Titanium
by Jules In Neverland
Summary: First it was "You make me bulletproof". Then "Unstoppable". Now, the series end with "Titanium" a fanfic about how Beca and Chloe got married, had children, and their strong family and the Swansons comfronted new adventures together. Read for more romance, fluff, smut, drama, adventures, family fluff, angst, and to get the definite end to the saga and the two previous chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_Welcome to my new fic, it's called "Titanium" and it's the threequel of "You make me bulletproof", going right after "Unstoppable" that is the sequel. However, if you haven't read those, I still think you'll enjoy this one and you can always ask me if you're in doubt. So, this story is about Beca and Chloe being married and head of a family and of the adventures they live together as a family with their own children and stuff. I really love the fic, so I'd love to hear what you think! Much love!_

 _Okay, I'm really really sorry for the lack of updates these days, in compensation, here's updates today in ALL my bechloe fanfics. Now, what happened is that last week on Tuesday I finished my exams, that_ _ **kept me busy for the whole January**_ _and so last week I was writing and relaxing on my own. Then on Monday this week I got really sick with a cold that ended up being a horrible thing to have at least Monday, because it didn't seem like a normal cold, I was having chills then being too warm, headaches, stomachaches, sneezes, throat pain, coughs, over sensitivity to light, watery eyes all the time… well, I was a mess and went to Theatre at night to rehearse something I'm doing in May-June and the rehearse ended at night and I came back dead, but couldn't miss it because exams already made me miss two rehearsals so… and then Tuesday I spent the whole day in bed and didn't went to class, which was good because thanks to that yesterday I was a lot better and today I'm really recovering, so all good. You gotta know that I care too much for Emotionless, Lost and Found, Unstoppable and The Last Battle to abandon them and I'm ALWAYS writing new chapters (well, all of the stories are already completely written except for Lost and Found, and even that one has like ten chapters written or more) I only need time and energy to update because I like to update them all at once in order not to forget any behind. So if you see I'm not updating either you missed something I said before some chapter explaining my absence, either I'm sick, dead, or busy as hell._

 _Again, thanks for always being such great readers and reviewers. I love you all like crazy. I will answer all reviews once I'm completely OK because it's four stories with reviews and I want to take a good time to read them and answer them. Please leave reviews. Love you!_

 **Chapter 1: Things were fine until they weren't.**

The sun of May set over the Mitchells' household early that 2026, and while the first sunbeams pecked through the curtains, a happy ginger was already giggling in her bed as her brunette wife chuckled getting on top of her and kissing her, barely a couple minutes after having waking up, despite how early it was. For the Mitchells, life was treating them well. They had a healthy four year old daughter named Elizabeth -Beth- Sarah, a great boy with three years old, named Micah Joseph, and just nine months ago they had been given the privilege to be the parents of a Namibian little girl named Kamara -Kai- Marie -in honor of their best girl friend, Aubrey Marie Posen-, who had now a year and almost four months. Rebeca Mitchell was the brunette and shorter mother of the trio, and she was the owner and founder of _Bulletproof Productions,_ a successful music company that had given her several Grammy Awards in the last few years, while her wife, Chloe Anna Mitchell, was an amazing music teacher at Norfolk Elementary School, that had received much recognition for her labors. They lived in a beautiful house with a pool and an amazing garden in Norfolk, Virginia, and also owned seven year old dog _Billie-Jean_ and cat _Avery_. They were happy and their lives were settled and perfect so far, and despite of it, they had decided it wouldn't be such a bad idea to welcome another baby, or maybe Chloe had decided it and then convinced Beca, who as everybody knew, could barely say no to her beautiful wife. And just three weeks ago they had gotten a positive and were just a couple days away from their first ultrasound for the new baby Mitchell, that Chloe would be carrying just like she carried Beth.

They were so happy, it didn't even bothered them that much when their youngest girl started crying and calling them, interrupting their morning snuggle session, and making them cross the hallway and get into Kai's bedroom, that she shared with Beth, who had already gotten up. They had space in the house to give a bedroom to each kid, but had decided that as long as they were so little, it was easier to have the girls share one room, Micah having his own as long as another boy didn't came up to share with him, and that way if all three of their children needed them, they could be in both bedrooms at the same time. Kai had already woken Beth up, so while Chloe got Kai and hugged her tight, Beca made sure Beth went back to sleep, as it was still soon before they had to take her and Micah to preschool and kindergarten, while Kai wasn't going to kindergarten anytime soon. The couple took Kai to their own bed and cuddled her between them as the girl stopped crying. It was normal for her to be a crier, because her story was very sad and traumatic, and even if she was too young to remember, her subconscious did and reminded her at night sometimes. Kai was the only child of a Namibian couple that was very poor and lived the rough life. The father had been killed in an attack, and then the mother was eight months pregnant, so knowing she could never give her child the life she wanted, and barely being able to eat sometimes, she had found herself not knowing what to do. Then, she got sick with malaria, and Doctors Without Borders took her to one of their refugees, where she gave birth to also sick Kai and died. After two months, Kamara, as her mother had wanted her to be named, had been finally healthy and put out for adoption. Not long after in the summer, 2025, the Mitchells had gone to Namibia because after spending there a few days in their honeymoon they had loved it, and there some friends that worked in DWB told them the story of Kai, and after meeting her, they were so in love with her, by August she was theirs.

Now the black baby giggled as Beca made fart noises against her tiny belly and Chloe smiled at them while stroking the baby's hair.

"I'll go make breakfast and after it, you come with me to take Beth to preschool and Noah to kindergarten, right?" Chloe said kissing Beca.

"Sure. Eva will be here soon too" Beca replied. Eva was the wife of her secretary and very good friend, Wyatt Lightwood, and she was their nanny, and also had a son named Toby that was a year and a half old, and she always brought him because he and their children loved each other. Because Kai wasn't going to kindergarten yet, and Toby wasn't either, they usually shared a morning of fun at their house while Beca and Chloe were at work.

Beca took Kai down to the playpen in the living-dining room and then got back upstairs to wake her remaining children.

"Come on Beth sweetie, time to get up and start the day" Beca sang kissing her daughter's chubby cheeks and getting the ginger tresses of hair out of her face.

"Wanna sleep" the kid muttered.

"Me too, but I've got a job to do and you have things to learn that will help you have an amazing adult life one day" Beca replied opening the curtains of the bedroom and then took Beth out of her bed before she got time to fall asleep again "Mamma is making pancakes. Come on, I gotta wake your brother."

She kissed the child again, and went to her son's bedroom, opened the curtains and giggled when she heard a muffled _nooo_ from her son's bed.

"Good morning Micah, there are pancakes downstairs" she said kissing his son, that had wavy brown hair spread over the pillow "Get up son, today both your mamma and I will take your sister and you to kindergarten and preschool."

They had breakfast as entertaining as always, because Beca and Chloe decided long ago that the best way to start the day was by joking, singing, listening to good music, and cheering their children up as much as possible before they had to get dressed and out of the house. Eva and Toby came to stay with Kai, and the other four Mitchells got into the car and as Chloe drove, they sang and danced, until each kid was at their place.

"I'm gonna get you to work, head to mine and maybe you could pick the kids out later? I have a class now, then I'll go to the grocery store, and I've got another class that ends at noon" Chloe said as they drove away from Micah's kindergarten and to the _Bulletproof Productions_ building.

"Okay, Emily will take me?" Beca guessed smiling kissing Chloe in the cheek.

"Awesome" Chloe smiled widely and just two hours later, Beca was at one of the studios in her company's building recording the latest song of the famous singer Emily Junk.

Emily and Benji lived in LA until they got married in 2023, when they decided to move to New York City so Benji could get into Broadway as he wanted -he had now won several Tony Awards- and Emily who was already a famous singer with Grammy Awards in her shelves, could be closer to Beca, who was her producer. Now Emily was making an album, so she flew to Norfolk three times per week, and still got to be with her daughter Hailee, who would turn two in August.

"That sounded amazing Em, well done" Beca complimented her smiling as her friend walked towards her after the recording, a bottle of water in her hand.

"Really? I thought I lost the pitch at the end."

"Not at all, it was awesome, you wanna hear it?" Beca suggested, and Emily nodded excitedly.

After that they took ten minutes to go down to the cafeteria and rest for a bit, and then Beca's cell phone sounded.

"Beca Mitchell" she greeted as always.

"Miss Mitchell, I'm a nurse from Norfolk General Hospital, you are Chloe Mitchell's emergency contact."

"She's my wife, what happened?" Beca immediately froze in place and felt a lump in her throat.

"She was driving and her car got out of the road and rolled down a hill" the nurse explained "when she got here, we discovered she had an ectopic pregnancy and it was probably the reason she crashed in the first place. She's really bad and just got into the O.R." Beca panicked immediately.

"I'll be right there." Beca hung up and looked at Emily, fear in her face "Chloe had an ectopic pregnancy and she probably was in sudden pain or something, and ended up crashing her car. Can you please take me to the hospital right now?"

An hour and a half later, Beca had already threw up from stress, and Emily was stroking her back softly as they patiently waited in the hospital's waiting room. Beca had asked Emily to call Eva from her so she could pick her children up and take care of them until she could go home to check on them, and also she had called to the preschool and kindergarten to let them now Eva Lightwood was picking the Mitchells up that day. Then Beca had encouraged herself to call Aubrey and George, Chloe's eldest sibling, as they knew Chloe was very grave and her state was serious as hell. Another couple of long hours had to pass until a female doctor came.

"Hi, I'm doctor Meyers, I'm Chloe's surgeon, you are her wife right?" she greeted.

"Yeah, I'm Beca. How's she?" Beca asked anxiously.

"She's in the ICU, but she's alive. She had a ectopic pregnancy that had caused the loss of a Fallopian tube and an ovary, not to mention the baby, of course, and the car crash caused her left wrist to twist, and broke a rib. She also had a concussion but she should be alright. What worries us now the most, is that she lost a lot of blood, and she developed an infection that has her with high fever, but in about forty eight hours she should be better. We have her in induced coma so her body can recover from the intense trauma and we can prevent any major damage to the brain. She was two months and a half pregnant."

"Can I see her?" Beca asked with broken voice.

"Yes, but only you, and only for twenty minutes, because the visiting hours in the ICU are about to end" the surgeon said.

"That's alright, I'll call Aubrey and George to let them know the details and wait for you in the car" Emily said stroking Beca's back and kissed her cheek "Go see your wife."

When Beca saw Chloe full of tubes, cables, the IVs, and looking so pale, with scratches and some bruises here and there, she broke into heavy cries leaning into the side of the bed. But she didn't have much time there and soon, she was sitting in shock in her couch, as Emily and Aubrey, who had taken a jet to Norfolk half an hour after them calling her the first time and also from NYC could be there really fast, sat each in one side of her, trying to make her feel any better. They had told the children Chloe was a bit sick and in the hospital, but nothing big, and the kids were playing in Beth's room.

"Jesse will be here in half an hour, he got my parents to take care of the kids" Aubrey commented after checking her phone for a moment "And Cormac and Gwen are also about to land." Gwen was Chloe's little sister. Chloe was the third of four siblings, George, Sophie and Gwendoline, the youngest. George, his wife Hannah, and their children John and Katherine, lived in Springfield, Missouri; Sophie, her husband Seth, and their children Emma, Edith and Parker, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Gwendoline, her husband Cormac, and their son Owen, lived in Tampa, Florida, were Chloe's family was from, together with Chloe's parents Charles and Anna Beale. Aubrey and Jesse, on the other hand, had married two years ago, five years after having fraternal twins Anna -in honor of Chloe Anna Beale- Margaret and Daniel Marcus, and now they also had Catherine, who was around eighteen months old.

Beca nodded leaning her head on Aubrey's shoulder and closing her eyes as automatically the blonde moved an arm behind Beca's back to caress her hair tenderly. She didn't know if it was from all the emotions, but she felt exhausted, and the lump in her throat had installed pretty comfortably in the opening of her stomach, making her impossible to eat.

"Aren't you hungry yet?" Aubrey asked in a kind whisper before giving Beca a peck on the forehead.

"My stomach has closed up" Beca replied with a hoarse whisper.

"Chloe will be all right, you'll see" Emily said optimistically "it'll take time, but soon she'll be worrying about puppies around here again."

"I hope so, but right now she is miserable, and I know that, and there's nothing I can do to help which is frustrating and infuriating" Beca replied without energy to talk very loud "Let's not mention how she's gonna be when I told her she lost the baby, an ovary and a Fallopian tube, and almost her life too, and she has to learn the small percentage she has now of having a successful and problem-free pregnancy ever again."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, let's not overwhelm ourselves for now." Aubrey said.

"Momma!" Beth came running followed by her siblings and Beca sat straight and opened her eyes immediately "Can we visit mamma later this afternoon?"

Beca blinked to dissipate her slumber and managed a tiny smile to her siblings.

"Come here" Beca tapped her lap and soon, Kai was on it, and Beth and Micah had made themselves at home between the other women and her mother "Your mamma is really sick in an hospital, and hospitals are full of very sick people, which is why they won't let anyone younger than sixteen visit anybody inside, that's the hospital's policy, because you youngsters have much more possibilities than us adults to catch anything contagious another patient has, because the little invisible soldiers that protect us from illnesses are as big as you are" she explained, and the children frowned understanding that was a no "Not only that, but your mamma is in a certain part of the hospital where they have a really strict visitors policy, which is why I, that am her wife, can only be two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon with her, and only two people can be with her at the same time. So I believe, we are all going to have to get used to not seeing your mother much or anything for some time."

"But that's crappy!" Micah pouted.

"Yeah, I wanna see mamma!" Beth frowned. Kai just looked at Beca with dying puppy eyes.

"I wanna see her too, and I want all of you to see her too, kids, but hospitals have security guards making sure any kid gets in" Beca explained trying to be patient "Look, maybe your mamma will get her own room the day after tomorrow, and then, maybe I can get the security guard to let you guys come and see her, okay?"

"Why doesn't she has her own room already?" Beth asked confused.

"Because she's in a larger room with other people, so the doctors can look after her faster even if they are busy with another patient."

"Why? You said she wasn't too sick, is she sicker than we thought?" Micah asked. Beca sighed taking in her children's confused faces.

"Look... I'm gonna be honest with you okay? Your mamma was pregnant. She was pregnant, but there was a problem, nothing that is anybody's fault, and the fetus, that is what a baby is when it has just started forming, died, and it hurt so bad, and caught your mother so much by surprise, she was driving and her car went against a tree, so your mother got a little bit more hurt than just by losing the fetus" All three of the children opened their eyes and mouths widely in surprise.

"Oh my God, she's dying isn't she?!" Beth alarmed herself with watery eyes.

"No!" Beca was quick to deny it "Your mamma is not dying anytime soon, all right? That is a statement and that has to be clear in your heads. Your mamma is gonna get better, and come back home really soon. But she had some internal damage, and wounded her head and one of her wrists just a little bit, but she's in the hospital so she can get the best care there is, and get better faster than if she was here with us. She will probably be back home in a couple weeks."

"Is she in pain? Did you see her? How was she?" all the kids started making questions all at once.

"I did saw her before, but the doctors had given her strong painkillers so she could just sleep it off and not suffer not even a tiny bit, just like when you are sick and spend the day sleeping so when you wake up you feel immediately better" Beca explained "Now your mamma's siblings and parents, and my dad, and uncle Jesse, are all coming, so we can distribute the tasks better and somebody can always be with you and your mamma never has to be alone as long as the visiting hours are on."

"Okay..." the kids nodded.

"Kiss mamma from us?" Kai asked and Beca smiled.

"I'll give her a huge kiss from you guys and I'll tell her how much you want her back home so she puts even more effort into healing up. Now, why don't you go back to play?"

The children obeyed knowing better than to try and argue, and Beca got up.

"I'm gonna have a shower, feel free to attack the kitchen or whatever, make yourselves at home" Beca muttered before going upstairs to her bedroom's bathroom.

She turned the hot water on and sat under the shower's spray as soon as she was nude, and from that on, time just flew. When she got downstairs again, already dressed, she was surprised by too many people in her living-dining room and kitchen, which made sense, because she had called them five hours ago, give or take. There were Jesse, all the Beales without their children, Alan Mitchell, Benji, Wyatt and Eva. Beca had cried her eyes out in the shower and was a bit stunned by so many people there, but she greeted them anyway and accepted a sandwich from Jesse, and went to the living sitting with her children that were devouring Nutella toasts like if there was no tomorrow.

"When is visiting hours again mamma?" Beth asked after awhile.

"In an hour sweetheart" Beca replied.

"And you're going?"

"Yes I am."

"And who else?"

"Uhm..." she looked up to Anna and Charles Beale "There can only be two persons at the same time until she's out of the ICU."

"Then, you go babe" Charles smiled at his wife, who nodded.

"All right." She smiled at Beca a bit taking her exhausted expression in and caressed her head with a hand softly. She had been like a mother to Beca ever since her own died, almost eight years ago "You okay honey?"

"I will be, as soon as she's smiling widely and honestly at me" Beca murmured finishing her sandwich.

"Bec, almost forgot, police called to say Chloe's car it's in an auto repair shop, and that the insurance will pay for it" Jesse remembered "I gave them your cell number so they could talk to you in case you were in the hospital next time."

"Okay" Beca nodded "Thanks Jesse."

"No problem."

"Momma, can we play upstairs?" Micah asked.

"And can I draw in the kitchen?" Beth asked.

"Sure" Beca nodded "Make sure you don't get everything covered in paint honey." Micah and Kamara ran upstairs to play with their trucks, and Beth went to the office for paper and paints, and then to the kitchen, leaving the adults alone again in the living.

"So Emily said Chloe had an ectopic pregnancy?" George commented "We didn't even know you guys wanted another baby."

"It was your sister's idea" Beca said "I was content with our three amazing children, even more after having just gotten Kammy, but she loves being a mom and being pregnant, and it had been too many years since she got to be pregnant for the last time, and she loves babies and children despite working with children, and many people around us were having kids and I guess she just really wanted another" she explained "It took time, but you know how difficult it is to say no to her, and eventually I supported it, and three weeks ago she seemed pregnant so she peed on the stick and it was a positive, we were going to have an ultrasound the day after tomorrow and we were gonna wait until she was three months pregnant before telling anyone just in case."

"God, she's definitely going to blame herself for this" Gwen whispered supporting her head on her hand.

"She is" Beca nodded "She will say it's her fault, or that she's a bad mom, or anything like it I guess, and then I'm gonna have to cross my fingers and hope her therapist does her job as well as she has been doing it for the past seven years and a half."

"She's a tough lion sweetie, I'm sure sooner or later she will be fine" Charles said optimistically "By the way, we called Alex, he's in San Francisco working but is coming tomorrow."

"Nice" Beca nodded. Alexei Klowsly had been Noah Spaughton's boyfriend for several years until Noah died from leukemia five years ago. Noah was Chloe's best friend since high school, and now Alex had another boyfriend from the last couple years after not dating anybody for years. "How's Alex, by the way?"

"He's great" Sophie replied "Noah's family is also much better."

Beca nodded and stroke her face with her hands, not having reapplied make up after her shower. Her dad, who was sitting in the sofa beside her, hugged her against him with an arm.

"Why was Chloe driving by the way? Wasn't she supposed to be at work?" Gwen asked suddenly.

"She had a couple hours free and was going to do the grocery shopping" Beca explained. Then Chloe's cell that Beca had taken from the hospital and was in her pocked rang and she took it "Beca Mitchell."

"Beca? It's Nora, Chloe completely skipped two classes and haven't replied any of my calls all day? It's everything okay?" Nora Montgomery was the principal of the Elementary School Chloe taught music in.

"Oh, shit, shit!" Beca bit her lip "I'm so, so sorry Nora, I should've called you, but I completely forgot. Chloe had an ectopic pregnancy this morning while she was driving between classes and had a small car crash and well, she's in the ICU."

"Oh my God! Is she gonna be all right?"

"I guess, I'm going with her mother to visit her in a bit. She lost an ovary, the baby and a Fallopian tube, and twisted a wrist and broke a rib, but otherwise she's fine. They have her in an induced coma to give her time to recover a bit, and maybe they'll put her in a room the day after tomorrow because she got a huge infection and they don't want to move her until her fever goes down." She explained.

"Let me know when she has a room so I can visit! And don't worry about anything Beca, take care girl."

"Okay, thank you Nora, bye." She hung up "I forgot Chloe missed two classes and the principal was ready to get moody. Luckily, she's a friend."

"Good" Anna smiled.

"It's half past five, maybe you guys should get going." George reminded them looking at his watch.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the couple reviews, and thanks AnchorV, here you have the next chapter. I hope you all like it!_

 **Chapter 2: Chloe.**

Chloe had been in the hospital for four days now, and in her own room for two, but she still hadn't woken up. The doctors had given her softer meds and put her out of the coma, but they said the reason she wasn't awake was that her organism was still too exhausted from the trauma, but that she would wake up on her own. She had a tube down her throat to help her breath because she had low blood pressure for a few years now and they didn't want to risk it, and she also had her left wrist bandaged, a gauze over her temple and half forehead, the few scratches and bruises looked much better, and she had a big bandage over her lower abdomen under her hospital pajama and the sheets. She looked quite pale and motionless, even if sometimes she moved a bit, just like a slight trembling, an eyelid, a finger, or frowned very slightly. She had some IVs in her health wrist, some cables that went to small rounded patches around her chest, and some kind of plastic clamp on one finger that gave a red light that was used to inform about her heart rate and other stuff Beca had now forgotten.

The brunette was sitting that afternoon on an uncomfortable armchair by the bed, taking very carefully Chloe's bandaged hand between hers, and her glance going from Chloe's face to the machine that showed her heartbeats. Everyone had been visiting a lot during all those days, even Beth had gotten to see her mother that morning for a bit, and now only Beca, Sophie, Gwen, George, Aubrey and Jesse were there, either chatting softly in the couch, or reading, or just looking at Chloe with hopeful eyes whenever someone detected the slightest of moves in Chloe. Then Beca detected a new frown on Chloe's face and almost at the same time, even if it was very soft, Beca still felt it, Chloe's thumb pressing twice into her hand, despite having a twisted wrist that would probably make the movement painful, but it was the secret code Beca had invented when they were about to get married to say _I love you_. Then, Beca held her own breath as she saw Chloe's eyelids slowly open a bit, blink, and then open a bit more, and Chloe's beautiful blue eyes threw her a tired look, but she was definitely staring at her.

"Chlo" Beca's voice was hoarse from not talking in a long time so she cleared her throat and spoke clearer "Chlo. Chloe's awake! George, we gotta remove that tube."

The others had approached the bed in a second and George nodded, proceeding to do so, as he was a general surgeon. Carefully, he removed the tube, and Chloe cleared her throat a bit, and then her brother helped her to drink a little bit of water, and put an oxygen cannula under her nose's holes.

"How are you feeling sis? Do you remember who you are and everything?" he asked smiling.

"Tired... but yes, only..." she whispered looking around disoriented "what happened? Becs?"

Beca bit her lip as Chloe stared at her questioningly.

"Babe... babe, this is not your fault at all, okay? Doctors said this things happen sometimes, and it's nobody's fault, and please, don't blame yourself..."

"Beca, you're scaring me."

"All right... Chloe's, the pregnancy... was ectopic. Which means the baby wasn't forming in your uterus but in your Fallopian tube, and it broke, and... the fetus had to be removed, and so had that Fallopian tube and its ovary. I'm so sorry babe, but doctors had said many times we could've done nothing about it" Chloe's expression now showed hurt and sadness, and her eyes watery "You were driving when it happened, and it was such a painful thing you lost control of the car and crashed against a tree, so your wrist twisted, a rib broke, and you have a little wound on your temple, but it's already much better and doctors said your brain is fine. Babe, I'm so sorry this happened to you, if there's anything we can do to make you feel any better..."

"Ho-How long have I b-been here?" the ginger asked with her voice a bit broken.

"The doctors had you in induced coma for a couple days and then you got into this room, where you've been for two days today" Beca replied "Beth came to see you in the morning, and don't worry, I talked with the kids and they are okay, not traumatized or anything." Chloe nodded and a tear ran through her cheek. Beca's heart broke and she got up, put a knee on the very side of the bed, a hand on the pillow beside Chloe's hand and another on her cheek, cleaning the tear with her thumb before placing a kiss there, and another against her lips "I love you Chlo, and I assure you, everything will be okay. We'll get through this together like we've always done." she whispered staring at her eyes. Chloe sobbed and nodded, and Beca hugged her really carefully so as not to hurt her "You are amazing and I love you so much no matter what."

"We l-lost it" Chloe sobbed.

"I know" Beca kissed her cheek without undoing the hug, and Chloe's bandaged hand, as it didn't have IVs, placed on Beca's back "It's all going to be fine Chlo, we still have three amazing children, okay? It'll be okay."

"Y-You think our p-poor baby suffered?" Beca smiled against her cheek.

"No Chlo. It was just a embryo as big as a poppy seed, didn't have arms or anything" Beca replied in a whisper against her ear "It felt nothing, I promise. I interrogated the docs for half an hour." Chloe half chuckled half cried against her ear and Beca supported herself on her knee and forearm moving her other hand to stroke Chloe's arm.

"When can I g-go home?"

"Just a few days more sweetheart."

By next day, Chloe had already cried her eyes out for a day and was now simply existing, sad and apathetic, barely smiling at anything except from the one time Beth had come in the morning, and barely speaking to anyone. Two days later, even if her health was much better, she was sadder and quieter, and Beca hadn't worked not even a bit ever since the day she got into the hospital and was with Chloe 24/7, only going home to tuck their children to bed, and maybe to be with them for half an hour when their friends and family told her the kids missed them. She herself felt sad to the bones, it had taken some convincing but at the end, she had felt the rush and the illusion of being a mother for the fourth time, and they had even started joking about its possible qualities or talking about names, and Chloe had been completely over the moon for their child.

The eighth night Chloe spent in the hospital, Beca could hear her crying from the couch she was trying to sleep in, -dressed up and everything- and got up to carefully lay beside her wife and let her cry her eyes out on her. She herself let a couple silent tears go, and when she was waken up by Gwen the next morning, Chloe was sleeping with her face supported on Beca's side of the face, her bandaged hand wrapping Beca's on top of her belly, and Beca only had one leg left on the mattress and the other fell numb by the side.

"Mmm" Beca yawned and kissed Chloe's forehead.

"Careful, this beds aren't made for two" Aubrey reminded her chuckling, and Beca sat straight carefully and then moved to a chair beside the bed being careful with not removing her hand from Chloe's "She was crying again?"

"Yeah" Beca nodded and stroke her eyes "what time is it?"

"Half past nine" Charles replied "We got your children to school and Kai's at home with Wyatt and Eva."

"Come" Alan softly and carefully removed Beca's hand from Chloe's, and pulled her daughter up "We are going to give you a decent breakfast."

"But dad..."

"No buts, you need a decent meal, I won't have you in the hospital too. You also lost a child and you also need someone to look after you, and I'm your father. You don't argue with your father." They went out and to a bar a couple streets away from the hospital. Beca had tried to stop in the hospital's cafeteria, or in the bars and coffees in front of the hospital, but her dad made sure to put a good distance between decent food and sick people "So, how are you for real?" he asked her daughter once their coffees and toasts came. Beca was pale, although she had always been really white, and had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep she was having.

"We were going to have a fucking baby dad, we spent three fucking weeks getting excited over it and hiding it for everyone except the both of us, and we were so unbelievably happy, and Chloe, she was picking names, and thinking which old clothes from the children we could use on the newborn and everything. I'm..." Beca shook her head "I don't even know dad. And I hate seeing Chloe like that."

"I'm here for anything you need, okay?" Beca nodded and smiled a bit, and before they went back to the hospital, they hugged.

When they got back, Chloe was sitting straighter supported on tons of pillows, and her expression shined significantly when Beca entered the room and sat on the side of the bed.

"What are my eyes seeing? Did they remove the IVs while I was out?" Beca asked looking at Chloe's hand.

"Yeah, doc said I can just drink my meds, and that my rib is completely healed. Apparently it wasn't completely broken either" she managed a tiny smile and pulled Beca in for a kiss "How are you?"

"I've been better, but also worse" Beca smiled a little and hugged her a little tighter now that her rib was okay and that two days ago they had removed the stitches from Chloe's belly.

"Doc also said I can go home tomorrow" Chloe added in her ear and Beca pulled apart to look at her.

"Do you want to go home tomorrow?" Chloe nodded "Then great. The kids will be thrilled."

"Will you be thrilled?" Beca blinked in surprise.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Chloe shrugged and looked down "Chlo" she demanded lovingly.

"I don't know. Maybe you're sick of me by now?" she asked, and Beca almost cried when Chloe looked up at her with watery eyes.

"What? I could never... Chlo! Hey, we got married. We made vows, we made unbreakable promises and I would never leave you. Plus, how could I get sick of the most amazing person in the world, who I love more than anything else including myself?" Beca tried to cheer her up.

"I'm not that good, you d..."

"Don't say I deserve better, because if I deserve the best, I already have it. You are the best, and you are more than my best dreams could wish for. You're awesome, believe it or not."

"But _I_ lost _our_ child, Bec! How can you not hate me not even a tiny bit?" Chloe asked.

"Because _you_ did _nothing wrong_ sweetie. You didn't lost our baby, our baby was lost from the moment it decided to place itself in your Fallopian tube, and there's nothing you could've done to prevent it. You drank no alcohol from the second we decided to get pregnant again, you ate super healthy for months, you did exercise, and you did everything good. This is in no way your fault" Beca assured "Plus, I could _never, ever_ hate you."

"But you _should_!"

"Why? Why Chlo?"

"Because I was the main responsible of the baby while I had it inside!"

"And you did an amazing job, what happened was out of anybody's control, so stop it Chloe, drop it, because I won't tolerate anybody saying anything negative about you, and when you are the one doing it, I'm powerless" Beca kissed Chloe again "Stop blaming yourself, please, stop."

"But..."

"But nothing, Chloe! You did nothing wrong, and we both know that!" Beca looked frustrated "Don't I get moody and tell you when you mess something up, like that time you accidentally did the laundry wrong and my favorite t-shirt ended up three different colors? Believe me, if I had a single reason to be angry at you, I would let you know, but I haven't."

Going back home wasn't easy, even if no one had expected it to be that way. One thing was getting into the car and driving the half an hour drive from the hospital to their home, and another very different was being in home. Beca didn't need much time to realize how hard it was for Chloe to do any baby related tasks: taking baby clothes, changing diapers, trying to understand what their cries or bad-pronounced words meant, bathing the children... Beth was mostly pretty independent, but they had been trying to make Micah stop using diapers, which Kammy still used, and both children were still very dependent, mostly Kamara, who also seemed to be the kid Chloe had it harder to be close to, to the point when a couple times the kid would be crying and Chloe just couldn't hold her, and when Beca asked, Chloe told her she just couldn't but maybe it was that being Kamara the youngest, she reminded her more of the kid they could've had.

Even if they were mostly pretty sad, they tried to put their best in front of the children, which was hard when they had a hard time sleeping, mostly Chloe, who would cry her eyes out in absolute silence every night, and Beca would only realize sometimes. As Chloe couldn't do as many tasks as before, and also required some attention herself like having Beca drive her to the therapist every morning, since she couldn't get herself to drive, and also Chloe had to rest a lot after her major surgery, so Beca had to work more than usual on making their children content, which meant that she had to spend some time in front of the laptop working after putting them to bed, because she created a company and couldn't just abandon it, and was working from home so as not to abandon her family any time. Beca had no idea who was more sleepless, but she did know because she was so busy she usually didn't have time to think about things and get sad, while Chloe, that wasn't working, did it all the time.

One of those nights, a couple weeks and a half -during which they had seen their therapists every morning, and a couple counselor they had been sent by Chloe's doc to go every Friday morning- after coming back from the hospital, Beca got up to her bedroom at almost one in the morning after working in their attic upstairs, and got into her pajamas as quieter as she could before getting into the bed. She rolled to hug Chloe and then realized the ginger was crying softly and very silently, again.

"Come" Beca whispered, and Chloe rolled and hugged her, crying heavily as she let herself go. She woke up to a soft shake on her shoulder.

"Momma, momma" Beth was whispering. Beca opened her eyes and blinked looking around. Chloe had fallen asleep with the head on her chest, and Beca felt her t-shirt wet, and Beth was sitting on the bed beside Beca, as she had laid around the middle of the bed.

"Good morning sweetheart" Beca smiled tiredly with an arm around Chloe and her other hand on Beth's back "It's Saturday, shouldn't you be sleeping until late?"

"Good morning. Momma, is eleven in the morning and we are hungry. Kamara was crying before but we already made her happy." Beca opened her eyes widely. Not only they had slept too much, but they hadn't heard a cry from their child, which was a first time.

"I'll go right away, not a word to mamma okay?" Beth nodded.

"Momma, why mamma looks so sad lately?"

"Because of the baby she lost honey..."

"But she has three children, and Micah and Kai are babies still. Aren't we enough for her?" she pouted.

"Of course you are more than enough honey, but imagine something bad happened to _Avery_. We still have _Billie-Jean_ , but it would still hurt right?" Beca explained.

"True..."

"Well, that's what's happening. Go to the kitchen, I'll be there in no time." The kid left and Beca focused on Chloe "Sweetie, sweetie, come on, you gotta wake up."

"What?" Chloe snuggled closer to Beca, who stroke her hair.

"Our children are really hungry and I can't make them breakfast with you holding me so tight sweetheart."

"Oh" she opened her eyes and sat straight "Did they rise early on a Sat?"

"No, we rose really late" Beca smiled and kissed her passionately "Move your ass, is time for breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm gonna make pancakes and then I'll come upstairs and force one into your moth then" she sang happily and winked at Chloe, kissing her again before getting out of their bedroom.

Chloe went downstairs reluctantly twenty minutes later and in the instant she started to get into the kitchen, Beca knew it wasn't going to end well. Beth was laughing her ass off at her brother's impression of _Billie-Jean_ eating pancakes, Kamara was laughing too with her mouth so full of food her cheeks seemed tiny balls, and when Chloe appeared in the door, she looked at them and froze.

"Chlo" Beca whispered turning the stove off and going towards her "Chloe, are you okay?" she pulled her by the shoulders and shook her a bit, and Chloe looked at her.

"I... I can't..."

"It's okay. Go downstairs and calm down, I'll be there in a minute" Beca smiled encouragingly and Chloe left.

"Momma! Where is she going?" Micah asked puzzled.

"She isn't feeling well, but don't worry kids. Keep eating and don't get any closer to anything higher than your shoulders. I'll be back in ten." Beca knew toddlers should never be left alone, but she really didn't think there was another option there.

She went to the basement and found her wife cuddled in the floor hugging her knees and sobbing softly. Beca sat beside her and hugged her.

"What happened?" she asked worried. Chloe calmed herself down within a minute of Beca stroking her back and whispering soothing words.

"I don't know" Chloe finally replied "I went in and then seeing our awesome children I just felt so sad suddenly, I guess I realized they could be having a sibling, or that they reminded me of the lost, or maybe I just realized of how much I'm growing apart from them or maybe all at once?"

Beca nodded slowly.

"Come, we are gonna go back."

"No! I can't!"

"Yes you can love. You just need to take it slow but be pushed a bit, come, I'll be here with you the whole time. You need them." They went to the kitchen "Nobody gets up from their seats, just keep eating like we weren't here!" Beca announced as they entered. The children looked confused, but shrugged and kept eating. Beca was holding Chloe's hand tightly "Okay, go. Slowly, breathing deeply."

"Beca..."

"Everything's gonna be alright. Look" she looked at her wife intently "maybe we lost a baby, but we have three awesome kiddos here, who need us as much as we need them, and you need to be close to them again. Just think... what if something happened and I wasn't here? They need you, so you are gonna have to put yourself together!" she encouraged her and smiled giving her a peck on the lips.

Chloe nodded and breathing deeply walked to the table, and her children kept eating like nothing happened. At first Chloe just stared at them, enjoying the view. And then, as she felt like crying again, she looked back at Beca, who smiled at her and raised her eyebrows encouragingly, mouthing _go Chlo!_ And Chloe nodded for herself, breathed deeply and knelt between the girls, taking each of them with one arm and pulling them into a tight hug. The girls moved and immediately threw themselves into her mother's arms as Chloe sobbed uncontrollably.

"Okay, family hug, come on son!" yelled Beca and Micah and then ran and hugged the other girls tightly. They were like that for good five minutes, Chloe crying her eyes out and everyone just telling everyone how much they loved each other, and giggling nervously. At the end, Chloe sat in the floor with her back on the wall beside Beca, and they held their children between their arms, Chloe holding them and Beca half hugging Chloe, who wasn't crying anymore.

"No more tears mamma!" Micah said cleaning Chloe's face with his sleeve and Chloe chuckled.

"I'll do my best sweetie" Chloe kissed his forehead and the children cuddled in her lap the best they could "I'm so, so, so incredibly sorry I haven't been with you guys like always, and I haven't been myself, and that you have to pull up with silly personal stuff your moms have going on, and with all the drama and sadness we've been breathing lately, but I promise you guys momma and I are working really hard to get things back to normal although it takes time, okay?"

"But mommy, you lost a baby, that isn't _personal stuff_ , that's family stuff!" Beth said a bit outraged "And we are a family mommy, you can count on us too!" Chloe smiled widely and gave her a huge kiss on the cheek. Kamara had been learning English for eight months so she was still very bad at it, but she managed to nod excitedly.

"You really are awesome kids" Chloe said "Okay, so this is what we are gonna do. Momma is going to work even if it's Saturday because tonight she is going to bed before ten, I'm gonna re do your hair Kammy because momma has still to get the trick, Micah, you are getting your trucks out of the hallway before any of us falls, and Beth, we have a wall to paint right? Go put your painting clothes missy!" there was a external wall that had some parts that with the years had lost its paint, and they had bought paint but never painted it, and it was next to the pool, so it was quite visible "And put your bathing suits under your clothes guys, we gotta give that pool an use after we're done!"


	3. Chapter 3

_This is a bit of a difficult chapter, may I say. Deals with sad stuff or dramatic one. Thanks everybody for your support. And special shoutout to doubleinfinity and Spidey. You girls are the highlights of my computer. Spidey, I can't even tell you how thankful I am for your country to have made you, even though I wish it had been mine or that we were from some awesome country we've never been in._

 **Chapter 3: Anger.**

Beca was very happy to get back into bed right after dinner that day. Chloe and the children had made and amazing job, not only had they painted the whole wall but they had also found an abandoned bunch of paint that was of another color from when Chloe and her painted the house when they first bought it, and with that paint they had painted their hands on the wall, and had made Beca add her hands too when she got home from work. Chloe had rolled into the bed fifteen minutes before her, because she stopped to have a quick shower, and when she felt Beca get into the bed she rolled on top of Beca and smiled kissing her lips.

"I'm so proud of you" Beca whispered against her lips.

"I am too" Chloe grinned "I gotta admit it's been quite hard, but every time I had to sob, I did making sure of keep it controlled and told the children they were happy tears, and some were so it wasn't a complete lie, and every time I thought I needed a break I breathed deep and tried to just focus on the moment and let my mind blank."

"I've got the most intelligent wife ever uh?" Beca smiled stroking her hair "I'm so happy I got to marry you."

"I'm happy about that too" Chloe laid down and snuggled against her "Let's sleep, tomorrow I want to wake up soon enough to make breakfast."

In the morning, Chloe discovered she felt pretty much drained and ready to spend the whole day in bed but, decided to keep Beca and her therapist in mind and keep on going, she forced herself to get a shower and make breakfast, and then helped Beca wake their children up and even got herself to hold Kamara in her arms and tried to teach her the names of the things that were in the table. The couple left to see their therapists like every morning for a while and when they came back their children played with them for a bit and then went up to their rooms to play on their own for a while, and Chloe was actually a bit relieved to get to just lay on their couch in the living-dining room with her feet on Beca's lap as Beca massaged them kindly. They were also waiting for a big reunion it was set to happen that afternoon, as the Bellas had found out about everything like a week and a half ago and had been wanting to visit for a while, so Amy, Cynthia, Stacie, Flo, Emily and Ashley -Jessica had just had a child- together with Aubrey and Jesse, Beca's old secretary Angela -who was Beca's age, not old- and also Chloe's sisters Sophie and Gwen, and her brother George with his wife Hannah all dropped their children with family members except for Jesse and Aubrey and Gwen, and were coming.

"I'm so very sorry we aren't having a baby anymore too" Beca voiced probably for the first time, and Chloe was so surprised and so into her slumber she didn't think Beca had said anything for a second, and stared at her intently. Beca was staring at her feet as she massaged them very intently and then looked up at Chloe and forced a tiny smile, sighed and looked back at the feet "I thought I was content with our family and I am, but you made me realize it would actually be great to have another newborn around. We kind of missed most of that with Kammy."

"I know" Chloe nodded "I wish I was still pregnant... but now I don't think I could get pregnant anymore."

"You know I actually saw this woman on the Internet who had an ectopic and lost an ovary and after that she had several healthy babies..."

"That isn't the biggest problem Beca" Chloe said "The biggest issue with that now is that I don't want to get my hopes up ever again with being pregnant and lose it. I don't want to spend nine months worrying that something will go wrong. I don't want to feel the joy of pregnancy and then had it ripped apart again. I don't want to risk anything anymore. We are happy how we are and we have an amazing family, let's not ask too much."

Beca looked at her for a second, but then nodded and looked back at the feet.

"You're right, we are fine as we are. No more kids."

"No more kids."

"We are officially not admitting any more children into this household and family."

"Exactly, our family is perfect just the way it is. We need nothing more."

"Okay. That's what you want, right? Your last word about it."

"Sure" Chloe nodded firmly and looked at Beca "Isn't that what you want?"

Beca had a _yes_ very much ready in her lips, but when she looked at Chloe, swimming in that blue ocean her words vanished in her throat, and she avoided her gaze when she replied.

"Of course Chlo. That's what I want."

"Beca..." Beca knew she was lying and that Chloe always knew when she lied, but she also knew the best thing she could do was defend that lie with nails and teeth, that it was for the best and she had to do it even when she didn't believe herself "Don't lie to me Becs..."

"I'm not lying" Beca had never lied in her whole romantic relationship with Chloe, almost nine years of relationship, until that very moment "We don't want more children." Beca smiled and got up.

"Bec..."

"All right, listen, the children are too quiet, I'll go see if they are sleeping or what."

Faster than a lightning, she went upstairs and to Beth's room. Kamara was sleeping on top of the duvet of her bed and Beth was very focused drawing in the small table they had set for them. She was so focused she didn't even hear the door open slightly when Beca pecked her head, and not wanting to interrupt her daughter's burst of inspiration, she closed the door again very softly and went to Micah's room. He was knelt in the middle of the floor surrounded by cars and dinosaurs and seemed to be recreating some kind of scene of Hulk but with dinosaurs. He heard the door and looked up to her, and then grinned.

"Look momma! I made a race dinosaurs versus cars, and guess who won!" he said very enthusiastic.

"Really? Who?" Beca smiled closing the door after her and sitting beside him on the floor.

"Cars! Apparently dinosaurs aren't fast enough" he said, and put some kind of adorable expression of disappointment looking at his toys. Then looked up at her momma and smiled a bit, and Beca smiled back instantaneously "Did mamma and you argue?"

"No sweetie, we were just chilling in the living-dining room, why?"

"'Cause when mamma and you are left alone, usually it's like if you forgot the rest of the house existed" he said very innocently picking up a car, and Beca blushed.

"I see" Beca stroked his hair. Micah was like a male version of Beca, they were incredibly alike, not only physically but psychologically, with just a few exceptions. Micah was more of a daydreamer than Beca was, and he could only keep himself really concentrated with a very few things like music, playing, drawing or movies; he loved movies, even more if they were animal movies; he was the less laziest human being Beca knew, not that he was a bundle of energy like Chloe and Beth, but that if he had to get up from being comfortable somewhere for any reason, he did without blinking; he also had this enormous interest on everything and everything made him curious, and he had no problem with insects, except mosquitoes, which everyone hated. He even had the same interest Beca had on spending time alone just by himself, which sometimes worried Chloe, or at least used to.

Then, it was Kamara. She was her own world, and because she wasn't biologically theirs, they had no idea what she could be like and was a box full of surprises. They learned Kamara loved food, any kind of it, and naps, which was normal for someone of her age. She also enjoyed nature a lot, and tasks that involved a lot of brainy thoughts, even if she was too young for that, but she loved the challenge of puzzles and things like that. She was the youngest, but not any less protective than the top overprotective of the family, Beth, and she loved adventure, so they had to be very careful with the pool. She was always in a good mood, except when she had nightmares, which was more often than what anybody would like. And as for Beth, apart from extremely overprotective -it had been like that always, a sharp lion like Chloe, even as a baby she would cry every time her mothers seemed tense, or somebody talked any less than super sweet to them- she loved animals, which was no surprise. She was very much like Chloe, but she had more interest in drawing and playing instruments than Chloe, she loved dancing just the same, she was just as girly, but also was very into sports, which Chloe wasn't, and was always willing to help, to take care of anything, and barely, barely cried over anything, which definitely wasn't like Chloe. She also loved to make people laugh even at her expenses, and loved doing adult stuff like helping Beca put the baby chairs in the car, or helping Chloe with the window cleaning, or helping fix things or change light bulbs. Beth was also louder than Chloe, more of a rebel, and more exigent.

"Is mamma better today?" Micah asked dragging a car across the floor.

"She is" Beca nodded.

"And are you good too?" Micah looked at her, and Beca swam in her own eyes.

"Well, I'm tired, but I'm good." Beca liked to speak to her children like if they were adults. She was delicate and extra sweet when it was necessary, but didn't avoid conversations because of the _what they might think_. If they got bothered by something, Beca didn't mind sitting for an hour and answer questions and explaining things in a way that was less violent for them.

Micah nodded and smiled content, and Beca just sat there for a while watching him play.

"Micah" Beca called suddenly and he looked at her questioningly "Would you like to have a little brother?" he looked thoughtful for a second.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing" he nodded "but I'm also happy like this. We just had Kammy right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Beca smiled a bit. What was going on with her? She never wanted anymore children after Kamara, they tired them, they were awesome, yes, but they took time, they had to receive some attention each so they became great adults, and she was very content after Kammy, three was the number she always imagined having and she had a biological, Chloe had one, and they had an adopted, it was perfect. But Chloe had to put in her mind all those memories she had under many other more recent ones, and remind her of the sweetness of a newborn, the weird hole that was in their minivan because it had eight seats, but they didn't like putting the child seats on the middle seats, because it made it more uncomfortable to get the children in and out easily and they all liked the window, so Beth always had to be alone behind Kammy, with nobody sitting in the other window of her row to make her feel less lonely, and what the hell, Chloe made Beca wonder how awesome could it be to have more children in the pool, in the table at lunch, how greater playing team sports could it be... Chloe had spent a month and a half talking about the awesomeness that having another child could bring her, was she suppose to just bury those dream ideas away? How could Chloe?

Beca gulped a knot in her throat. How could live put away a brother, a mother, a nephew, from her life, and now a child to? Before they could get to see him or her, or to even know who _it_ was. How could any of it be fair? She heard noise downstairs and Micah got up.

"The family arrived!" Micah said excitedly opening his door and looked back "aren't you coming, mom?"

"I'll be there in a sec" Beca replied with a smile. _Perfect, now let's put a face in front of the family, well, at least Chloe won't try to make me talk with them here_. "Tell mamma I'm finishing a mix and I'll be there in a moment."

"That's lying mom."

"No son, I was actually doing one right before getting into your room and forgot to save it" Beca assured smiling, and that was enough. _Excellent, two lies in a row. First your wife, now your son, score Mitchell_.

To make her lie more believable, Beca spent some time going to her bedroom checking her laptop, and then went following the noise to the garden. They had a huge garden and they had an equally huge table for when they had many visitors and they were all there, and had settled some snacks. The twins and Beth were already playing around, and Micah, Kammy, Cathy and Owen, Gwen's son, were playing with _Billie-Jean_ , the Mitchell's dog. It had been long since she saw most of them, except for Chloe's family, Jesse and Aubrey who were there for a few days when the crash happened, so she greeted them enthusiastically and sat between Jesse and Angela, who it had been the one she hadn't seen in the longest.

"Chlo asked for Jess' baby" Cynthia said happily.

"Oh, and how is she?" Beca asked.

"Super happy" Ashley replied "and the baby is really awesome, they named her Martha." Jessica had her first child, Helen, three years ago "She wanted to send you pics just like she did with us, but thought it wasn't right now."

"Good call" Beca nodded "but hopefully we can visit some time not too far away."

"So you think we are like babyfobic or something?" Chloe asked surprised "We have babies, Becs, we can see babies."

"Really?" Beca raised her eyebrows "I'm not saying we are babyfobic, but I am reminding you of yesterday, and now you tell me."

"Yesterday was about _holding_ them, not _looking_."

"For God's sake Chloe, you barely entered the kitchen, you saw them and froze, so don't bullshit me because I was there" Beca didn't mean to pull out her old sharp self -perfectly well forgotten during the last nine years or so- but she hadn't been sleeping well for a long time, she was a bit mad at Chloe, and she was mad at the Universe in general. She wasn't yelling or anything, just talking with such a coldness and lack of delicacy that didn't surprise her when every adult turned to look at her pretty surprised.

"You're right" Chloe nodded "maybe I am a bit babyfobic for now." Beca nodded and played with a cork that laid on the table from the bottle of wine they had opened "Actually Bec, maybe you would like to fix the lie you told me before?" she said, but she did it with such a kindness Beca felt bad for being angry, but didn't want to lie anymore.

"We closed that topic already Chlo, if I have anything to say, that's why I've been paying my therapist for almost nine years, and if that wasn't enough, we have counseling soon, and that woman will be happy to hear it." Beca said.

"Well yeah, but I'm your wife, and we've always been capable of figuring our own things on our own, they are only a help and support, so I'd like to try and fix it now that our friends can help and not a person that's being paid" Chloe said as nicer as always.

"Fine, you wanna do it in front of family? Awesome" Beca bit her lip and looked up at her. The others were looking intently at them, not upset, but like if they really wanted to help, and Beca figured Chloe had already talked a bit to them on her own "I lied, Chloe, I do want another child in the future, it could be in five years and I would still be thrilled, I'm not saying now because what happened was huge and we aren't ready, but I can't be like you and just be like no, we are never, ever, not even in dreams having another baby. And you know what angers me the most? That you are innocent of so many things, you are innocent of what happened, and you are an amazing mom, but it _is_ your fault I want a baby. Because I was perfectly content and thrilled with things just the way they were, but _you_ wanted a baby, and _I didn't_ , but you wouldn't stop talking about it and I wasn't capable of giving an straight no from the very beginning, and you enjoyed reminding me of how things could be even better with another baby, and how happy you were of having three siblings, and how awesome could it be for Micah to have another boy in the house, or for Kammy to have a little sis, and you _made me want that_." She didn't feel like crying or anything, and it actually felt nice to talk out of her mind, and her heart was beating hard in excitement. She had move her gaze away from Chloe and was looking at the tree close by, so looked back at Chloe, who, and that relieved Chloe, wasn't looking very emotional either. She looked thoughtful and had her chin supported on her hand, staring at her.

"I'm sorry I made you want a baby so bad and now I am the one that completely refuses to do it" Chloe said finally.

"Well don't be, because saying you're sorry only helps you, I already imagined it didn't exactly thrill you." Beca replied with lower voice.

"Okay" Chloe nodded and took a sip from her glass of water "Now what? I can't give you what you want, so..." she shrugged "what's the solution? Divorce and everyone just keep goes on with their life?"

Beca stared at her with wide eyes.

"Div- what?" Beca couldn't avoid getting a bit of a high pitch "You are kidding right?"

"I don't want to divorce, but if that makes you happy..."

"I'm not having a divorce Chlo" Beca interrupted her.

"Then what solution do you see? Because I don't want you to resent me forever, that's not marriage" Chloe said a little less kindly.

"The solution is, and is the only one there is, I hold myself together and forget about more children and the topic is never spoken about again" Beca said "I will make sure of not resenting you, and my therapist is supposed to help, so forget about it."

"But I don't think that's right."

"Well is what it is Chloe, there's no other choice here" Beca shook her head and rubbed her cheek with a hand "Just stop it Chloe, I'm too tired to argue, I'm too tired to _think_ , and anyway, it's my problem, okay? I'm an adult and the fact that you married me doesn't mean that you have to fix my things" that was actually a bit of a lie "Who knows, maybe next week I'll feel stupid for ever wanting another kiddo."

"But..."

"If you feel like you owe anything to anyone, then compensate your children because they've missed you you know? I'll help myself, you help them."

Chloe nodded and then Micah came to Beca.

"Momma Owen just reminded me you were gonna taught me the end of that piano song years ago!" the kid said excitedly "Can we do it tomorrow momma, can we?"

"Sweetie, I've got therapy and a very important meeting early in the morning I've already delayed twice, but you can play with your cousins in the meantime" Beca replied "look, I'll try to remind myself that ending at work, because I'm not sure I remember it quite well and maybe I can teach you after lunch."

"Okay... can I go to work with you tomorrow and play with the drums?" Beca had all kinds of instruments in her company for when they recorded things.

"No honey, as I said I'll be on a meeting and Wyatt has to be with me, so anybody can keep an eye on you" Beca replied tiredly. She hadn't really go to work for her full time not once since Chloe got into the hospital, so the meeting would probably be long "But maybe I can ask Wyatt to take you there another day."

"Cool!" Micah nodded and left jumping in excitement.

"He is a little Mozart uh?" Hannah smiled.

"They are all quite good with music, and Beca taught piano to all of them. Well, Kammy is still too young, of course, but her turn will come" Chloe smiled nicely. Beca just stared at her knees. She could teach piano to an army if that meant having four kids jumping in her bed in the mornings, being the best alarm ever.

"So the company, is going well I assume" Angela commented looking at Beca.

"Yeah, except for the fact that I'm meeting lawyers tomorrow because a jackass sued me." Beca replied.

"What? How come I didn't know?" Chloe asked.

"I... I don't know Chloe I had other things in mind."

"What happened?" Jesse asked.

"I was supposed to DJ at a birthday party the night after Chloe got admitted in the hospital but obviously, I forgot and never came or called or anything. And the birthday girl was the child of some rich dumbass politician who got really angry and sued me" Beca shrugged "My lawyer already told me I will have to apologize and return the money, and I know it's completely my fault so it's all right. It's against my morals to have money for a job I never did anyways."

"It's nice that at least you guys can't stay a few weeks off work and not be worried about money" Gwen commented.

"I was thinking about going back to mine actually" Chloe commented.

Beca was about to look at her and be surprised, but instead, she kept eating cheese like she was doing.

"That's awesome" Stacie smiled widely.

"You sure is a good idea?" George asked.

"I discussed it with my therapist already and she thinks it could be good for me" Chloe replied "I still have to talk with the boss, but if she agrees maybe I could come back next week."

"Then it's great!" Aubrey looked satisfied "Are you fully coming back to yours anytime soon too, Bec?" she added looking at her.

"No" Beca replied "in fact, I've been just telling them I needed a few days off and that meant I still had to work from home or go there sometimes, but tomorrow I'm giving them a medical certificate and taking a couple weeks completely off. I didn't know I could, but my therapist just told me this morning I should have done it a while ago."

"You forgot to mention" Chloe whispered.

"You forgot to mention, I just decided this" Beca replied "Good for you by the way."

"Come on Beca, stop being so sharp, you don't want me to apologize, what do I do to make things right?" Chloe said. Beca shrugged and fidgeted with her sleeve. The damn lump in her throat was back "Becs, don't be like your son please. What do you want me to do?"

"Could you come inside for a sec?" Beca asked after some silence. Chloe nodded and they got up and went inside the house.

Chloe followed Beca to their bedroom and in the instant the door was close, Beca hugged her crying heavily.

"Sh.. it's all right sweetheart, we'll figure things out." She hugged her back tightly and they didn't come back downstairs until Beca had gotten weeks of accumulated feelings out.

 **Thanks for the reviews, thanks sweet Mia!**


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm sorry I didn't update in almost four days, you want to know what happened? Well for once one fucking good hell of a thing. I got wiped by a German, fell in love and got lucky enough to be loved back, and then now I forget even how to write or where do I leave my things and I'm living those things I read and write about but never had or lived, so it's all new and pretty and so I get crazy. So yay! But I swear I will get my shit together and my brain will be back to fully write and stuff and update on time. Somehow._

 _So enjoy this chapter, not giving clues this time! Thanks for all doubleinfinity precious little asshole! Love ya, Macedonian!_

Chapter 4: Agreement.

June knocked at their door with the heat that came with it, but that didn't cheered either Beca and Chloe one bit. Chloe had finally not came back to work, deciding after talking with her boss that coming back a month after the final exams would be bad for the students, but she would be back in September, so the whole family spent most of the days at home. After the spectacle they gave their friends, Beca had tried her best to keep her problems inside and be the most cheery and energized parent ever, she didn't know where the energy came from, but she guessed she wanted to please her children too much. As for Chloe, she had a very good week and then went backwards as fast as a bike crosses a road, but she also got really good at hiding her things, so both of them hid everything inside, faked perfectly to their counselor and therapist, and used their time alone to let themselves go.

It was late at night when a scream woke both Chloe and Beca up, and it was such a strong and terrified scream, they immediately ran towards its source, at their daughters' bedroom. Beca burst into the room almost crashing against the door and turned the lights on ready to kick some asses, but when the room illuminated there was only Kammy, crying and screaming strongly in her dreams, and Beth, sitting beside her and trying to calm her down.

"It's only a nightmare Kai!" Beth was saying and looked at her mothers, who were standing by the door still in shock, with pleading eyes "What do we do?"

Chloe immediately ran and pulled Kamara up in her arms, bouncing and singing a lullaby softly. Beca was about to reach them when Micah appeared terrified.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Kammy had a nightmare, but it's okay. Chloe why don't you take her to our room and I put these two back to sleep?" Beca took her older children's hands and looked at Chloe, who nodded going out of that room.

"Don't worry and try to sleep kids" Chloe said on her way out smiling at the other kids, now Kammy had stopped screaming and was just crying in her arms.

"Okay, come on" Beca tucked Beth in her bed.

"I don't wanna sleep alone" Micah said, terror still present in her eyes.

"Me neither" added Beth.

"All right, then guess Beth's bed will do for us" Beca laid in her daughter's bed with each kid holding onto her by each side, tucked the three of them and pulled her arms around them "Let's obey mom and try to sleep, okay?"

"What kind of nightmare could Kai have so young to be like that?" Beth asked.

"I have no idea sweetie, but you know she had a very different life before she came here, and sometimes our worst memories, even if we can't remember them, are still there in some part of our brain, and hunt us in our dreams." Beca explained.

"Does that ever happen to you mommy?" Micah asked.

"Of course honey, adults have nightmares too. For me, I've had really bad experiences that sometimes give me bad nights."

"And what makes you feel better?" Beth asked.

"Your mother. Whenever I've woken up crying, screaming or whatever, she was there holding me close, and that's why I know your sister will be okay, she has the best person she could have with her." Beca stroke her children's tiny bodies against her and before she knew it, she was asleep.

When she woke up it was still early and Beth had moved on top of her lacking space, so very carefully she moved to get out of the bed, adjusted the duvet over the kids, and went back to her bedroom, where she found Kamara lying on her side of the bed, her tiny hands trying to reach a dream catcher Chloe was holding letting it spin slowly. Chloe was smiling at the kid, lying on her side with her elbow on the bed and her side of the face supported on her hand. Beca smiled and sat beside the feet of the child, looking at her and stroking her belly softly.

"You better Kai-Kai?" Beca smiled at the child, who smiled back and stirred her fingers trying to reach the dream catcher's plumes.

"She had quite a nightmare" Chloe commented "where were you?"

"Micah and Beth didn't want to sleep alone" Beca replied stroking her eyes "I just woke up. Did you sleep at all?" Chloe nodded.

"Yeah, we woke up like ten minutes ago" Chloe replied and sighed "I'm so tired I can't even sleep."

"Take a pill and I'll take her downstairs" Beca said taking Kamara in her arms.

"Sure?"

"Yeah, at least one of us needs to be completely rested. I'll wake you up for counseling in three hours." Beca left downstairs holding Kamara in her arms and went to the living room, sitting on the couch with the child bouncing on her knees "What's gotten into you uh?" she asked smiling and the kid just pulled her thumb in her mouth and stared at her "I know baby, nightmares suck. You know what my mamma did whenever I had a nightmare?" Kamara shook her head "She sang me this... it was... t _winkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are! When the blazing sun is gone, when there's nothing he shines upon, then you show your little light, twinkle, twinkle, through the night. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!_ " Kammy had been leaning forward little by little and now she was fast asleep on her.

Next thing she knew Chloe was shaking her awake.

"For God sakes Beca, we are gonna be late! You were _supposed_ to wake me up!" Beca blinked and sat straight, the kid no longer in her arms "Eva already arrived and took Kai to her bed. Go, get dressed and take a banana or something to eat, we are late!" Chloe was already dressed and ten minutes later, as they drove to the counseling in complete silence, Beca could tell, just by the way she looked to the road or how she gripped the steeling wheel, she was angry or anxious or both.

Since the minute the doctor saw Chloe after she waking up, they had been told they needed to multiply their private therapist sessions to one every morning, and also needed couple counseling every Friday, the only day they were given the honor of not having therapy. Beca was always honest to her therapist, and supposed Chloe was too with hers, it had been the same for always nine years and they could trust them, but the counselor, it was another story, and they both knew the other was lying almost every time they got together. Not only was the woman supposed to help them not break their marriage and family while mourning, but also meant they had to talk how they felt in front of the other, not in the comfortably privacy of their own therapy sessions. And since Beca broke down crying on Chloe the day their people visited, they had two, maybe three perfect days, before Chloe went back to crying when nobody was close, Beca spent more hours than necessary with her mixes, both lied shamelessly to each other to avoid revealing they had been crying or anything, and hiding their sadness in a ridiculous attempt of making the family happier resulted in lack of sleep, and many inner anger that sometimes burst with the silliest things. But in front of each other and their family they kept pretending and acting real good, and even when they knew the other was lying, they went in denial.

"So are we saying the truth today?" Beca asked. Chloe only looked at her briefly. That was another thing, she did that even when not driving, because if they saw each other in the eyes, they would crumble down.

"I don't know what you mean." She replied simply, and Beca sighed in defeat.

"Wow Beca, you look tired" the counselor, Jane, said when they sat in the couch in front of her. She was a black woman on her early forties.

"It won't be because she hasn't slept" Chloe snapped.

"Chloe, don't be a b-!"

"What where you gonna call me?!"

"Ladies, ladies, stop" the counselor shut them like if they were children "Burst at me, not at each other. Chloe, can you elaborate please?"

"She told me _go, sleep, I'll wake you up_ and then fell asleep in the couch, that's why we are" she looked at her watch "fifteen minutes late!"

"God this is unbelievable" whispered Beca looking aside.

"Well I'm not bothered at all about the time, we have time. What's your version Beca?" Jane asked.

"Kamara had a huge nightmare last night and woke the whole house up with her screams. Chloe took her to our bedroom and Elizabeth and Micah didn't want to sleep alone, so I slept with them on Elizabeth's bed, woke up early, went to our bedroom, told that to Chloe, took Kamara downstairs and was silly enough to fall asleep, so I guess it's true" Beca shrugged like if it didn't matter.

"I see" the woman nodded "what were you gonna call Chloe before she interrupted you?"

"A bitch" Beca replied plainly sighing.

"Why would she be a bitch for you?"

"She's not a bitch, come on, my tongue works on its own when I'm mad. It's like when you say fuck, it doesn't matter what curse word is, it just slips" Beca replied.

"So you didn't meant it?"

"Right." Beca bit her lip and looked at her wife "I'm so sorry I called you that Chlo."

"Okay" Chloe nodded.

"Now Chloe, you were pretty harsh at your wife, why? Did it really bothered you that much that you came late?"

"No, it's just..." she sighed exasperated "It's when she says she's gonna do something and then doesn't. I'm sorry I snapped."

"Is that common?"

"Yes" Chloe nodded and Beca bit her nail "Yesterday she said she'll go buy our dog and cat some food, but night came and she hadn't, because she went to her laptop making mixes while the kids were taking a nap, and when she remembered the shop was closed already. The day before, she was supposed to drive our children to class, but woke up too late, and I had already driven then."

"She could've woke me up just like she could have told me yesterday the shop closed at eight" Beca muttered.

"Why didn't you Chloe?" Jane asked.

"Because she's thirty three, not one of our children and that shouldn't be necessary, and because the first three times I did, but know I've grown tired, I've got more important stuff to do than hound her."

"What is she usually doing when she misses her tasks?" the counselor asked.

"Sleeping, with the laptop..." Chloe shrugged and looked at Beca, who had a leg crossed over the other, the elbow in the armrest with her face supported on her hand, and looked to the other side of the bedroom uncomfortably.

"Do you sleep at night Beca?" she shook her head "why?"

"Don't know. Sometimes I do and simply don't rest, others Chloe's crying trying to do it so silently I don't know what to do so I stay awake, or Kai comes to bed, or Micah does, or my mind is too full of stuff, it depends."

The counselor nodded and took some notes, and then looked at Chloe.

"How do you feel? In a general daily basis. And, I did a whole career to be here, so I think it's time to stop lying."

"At first things were fine" Chloe said after a moment of silence "then, I guess as the days went by or something, I went back to feeling sad, and missing the baby we never had. I realized I should be four months pregnant and feeling kicking, not emptiness. And Micah is so lonely sometimes because the girls don't like trucks and dinosaurs as much as he does, and he is surrounded by women so..." she shrugged "then I realized Beca was lying and hiding things so I guess I thought I could only add worries and I shut up" she was playing with her engagement ring "I just feel so sad and angry all the time, and most of the time, I don't even know what exactly is going on, but I'm trying for our children and for Beca, and it's so damn hard and I'm so exhausted." She sniffled a bit a breathed deeply staring at her knees. Beca looked at her for a moment "I also know Beca needs me, and the kids, but I just... I guess I'm not that good."

"Well Chloe, those are normal emotions you gotta allow yourself to feel, regardless of what your children or Beca may think or how will that make them feel, because Beca has a therapist and me, you have a therapist and me, and if the children need someone apart from the both of you, there are plenty of professionals who are specialized in these things. You can't bottle things up. Neither of you." She added looking at Beca "What about you Beca?"

Beca shrugged thoughtful and took a minute before speaking.

"I think more than sad I'm really, really angry. Not only because we got excited over the whole idea of having another child and giving the kids a little brother or sister, but because of everything" she talked with low voice and anger in each word "My parents divorced when I was fifteen. My nephew, brother and sister in law were tortured and brutally murdered when I was twenty four, and that is only mentioning the biggest things. I almost lost my best friend and the love of my life, but the thing is the love of my life did lost her best friend, and it was an awesome guy, but we still managed to get married and at least keep trying, you know? We had Beth, and Micah, and we got to have Kammy after months of paperwork because they didn't want to give her to American lesbians, and we were supposed to be four months pregnant, not..." she sighed with exasperation and looked to the ceiling and then her feet "I thought my wife was going to die and leave me alone with three children. And she didn't but she still got to be in the ICU and suffering for days, and our not even born child did die, and we don't fucking deserve that! My wife doesn't deserve that, my children don't deserve living in a house with mothers that are barely holding on together, but somehow is what we get!" she snapped angrily "And there are other things involved that I really don't feel like talking about but the thing is it's been four weeks, four! And you know how things are like? Chloe couldn't even look at our children for weeks, and now fortunately she can, we've left our jobs until God knows when if that jerk knows anything, but we are crying in the fucking corners, lying to our children, boring them with our daily crap, and I can't even help my wife or let her help me because-" she sobbed and bit her lip breathing deep and calming down "Because I blame her. I now I've got no reason or right to, but I can't help it. I blame her for making me want a child and then refuse to even think about it anymore" she looked at Chloe "you know we could've avoided all this crap if you had just settled with our luck, like I did, and not ask for anything else and make me want that too!" her chin trembled and she buried her face in the hand whose elbow was on the armrest and focused on calming down. She was gonna end up sleeping on the couch for the first time in their marriage, and she knew.

There was a silence in which the counselor took a few notes and then waited for them to recompose themselves a little and Chloe looked devastated, but was holding up together pretty good. After a few minutes, Beca straightened up and nodded.

"Chloe" Jane started "are you mad at Beca?"

After a few seconds, she replied firmly.

"No."

"Are you mad at anyone?"

Another couple seconds and another firm response.

"I'm furious at myself. I think Beca's completely right. And I know even if I apologized, which I've done already in another day, it's worthless, it's not enough, it can't be." She shook her head just a bit in defeat, with a leg crossed over the other and her hands intertwined in her lap, and looked at her hands.

"Who are you mad at, beside Chloe, Beca?" Jane asked.

"I'm not mad at Chloe. The fact that I blame her doesn't mean... I'm not mad at her, or upset at her, or angry at her. Maybe a bit resented, but that's it" she clarified "I'm angry at the Universe in general... I'm angry at myself too, because yeah Chloe convinced me but I accepted, she never put a gun against my temple or threatened me with anything if I refused to have a baby. And I'm also angry at myself because, when two women try to have a baby, the process is constantly controlled, you go to the doc to get pregnant, you go every few days to see how it's going... but this was our third time going through it and I told Chloe, _we can just go and have an ultrasound when you're three months_ , I kind of insisted it would be okay and we should do it. And maybe if we had gone right when we thought she was pregnant, her life wouldn't have been at so much risk in anytime."

"You do realize" Jane started "that you blame yourself for pushing to do something that Chloe agreed on doing, that was not taking an ultrasound before, the same that you blame Chloe for pushing to do something that you agreed on doing like having another baby?"

Beca rose her eyebrows in sudden realization.

"Oh" Beca muttered "you are actually right."

"So this is what we are gonna do" Jane said leaning forward in her seat "In a relationship, there has to be communication, and by lying, pretending false feelings, and having angry outbursts, we go nowhere, so that has to stop now. You two need to talk always about whatever you two feel, doesn't matter how stupid your feelings or thoughts sound for yourselves, it's important to voice things out, calmly, without unsettling yourselves or each other, in the moment and not three weeks later, if there's something your thinking, or feeling, or a problem you need to talk about, it has to happen in the moment it comes. You also need to be an open book to each other, no more lies, or pretending" she explained in a firm tone looking at the both of them "You also need to realize that in a marriage or any serious romantic relationship, or in any relationship in general ideas don't happen in both heads at the same time. A person has it, and tells the other about it, about their wishes, expectations, etcetera. Is no one's fault that Chloe choose to voice out her wish to have another baby, and she should not be blamed for that because she did with a person has to do, although you're gonna have to learn and be less pushy with things like that Chloe, if Beca doesn't seem entirely convinced about something, you can't spend weeks trying to push it, you wait and if Beca doesn't bring the topic back in a few weeks, you go again, and the same goes for you Beca. And Beca, blaming the one you love and loves you the most, or yourself, for something that you can't fix anymore, that happened and it's in the past, is worthless, so with the help of your therapist, you need to stop doing that. And Chloe, the same goes for you. You two need to stop focusing in the past, and getting angry at it. It happened how it happened, we can't fix it, so let's try and fix the future and the present and make it better, instead of focusing on looking inside all the time see what thoughts and things you can find that make you sad, let's try and look out through your eyes, to the beautiful things that are outside. I'm not saying you can't be sad and angry at the fact that an ectopic pregnancy happened and Chloe almost died, and you lost a child, what I say is not try to fix that, because you can't, don't try to think what you could have done to avoid it, because it already happened, don't torture yourselves with that, accept that it happened and focus on trying to get better, which you can only do if you stop focusing on that. It won't happen easily, or in two days, but eventually it needs to happen. Miss the baby, get angry at what happened or at the world, get sad, cry whatever you need to, but don't stuck on that, keep marching on, don't get angry at the other, don't blame the other, don't try and make the other feel guilty about anything, you are not enemies, are two people very in love, so care about yourselves for the other, because you can't look over the other if you aren't taking care of yourselves too, and be a team, and go through this together. Let the other comfort you, let the other know how you feel, you don't need to try and comfort the other with any words, just be there, and therapists can do the talking." She breathed out and contemplated at the couple that stared at her "Finally... look, you have a family. You have three amazing children who miss you, and you are sitting beside someone that misses you, and the best thing the five of you have is that you love each other and care about each other very deeply. You have every right to miss a baby you lost and it's an irreplaceable human being who will always have an irreplaceable space in your hearts, but don't forget you do have three children, babies, that need you and that you should enjoy. You need to remember that the five of you are stuck together and you are a team, and let love bring you together over anything else that can bring you apart, and you need to try and understand the other. Neither of you is sleeping well, and that has to stop, so take the sleeping pills your therapists sent you, and if you aren't resting despite sleeping, talk about it with your wife, voice your worries out and everything out, and also to your therapists, and take naps and whatever you need. Be more understanding and comprehensive, not only with the other but yourselves, don't push yourself or the other, don't try to do more than you can, if one day everything that seems appealing is sitting in the couch and cry, you stay in the couch, cry, and then get your asses up for your children, and talk your own crap with the other, the therapists and me, don't forget me, we are all trying to help. Now I want you to make peaces, right here, right now, not saying you're sorry it would be better because saying sorry too much will make you feel you're always apologizing or will make you sick of hearing the word, so find another way, like _I feel that_... and then, you two are going outside of this room not like two besties who fought, but like two wives that support each other and care about each other, you're gonna pick your kids at school, and your littlest one at home, and do something fun all together, the only way I'm letting you push yourselves and each other with something is with spending time with your children and doing family fun stuff. And one last thing, it is forbidden to give straight nos. Chloe, with that I mean things like refusing completely to, for example, having a child, is forbidden, and not because of anything special but because making important decisions in moments like these isn't good, and having a kid is something you've proven you'd love, so you can't give Beca an straight no. Not a yes neither, just give yourselves time to make important decisions. And nobody is back at work until your therapists say so. Your turn."

Chloe and Beca looked at each other for a moment very serious, and then Beca smiled without faking it.

"Can we start over?"

"Hell yeah" Chloe grinned and kissed her, and it was like they were kissing for the first time in weeks.

Soon, they were in the street again, holding hands, and Beca looked at her watch.

"Hey, we still have plenty of time, we could go for a walk" she suggested, and Chloe smiled nodding.

Then they started walking around that neighbor, just holding hands and enjoying their company, until they arrived to a park and sat in a bench, where Chloe hugged Beca with one arm and Beca stroked her tight softly.

"I'm glad we're starting over" Chloe commented kissing Beca on the forehead lovingly.

"Me too" Beca smiled looking up and catching Chloe's lips with hers "I do love you Chlo." She whispered against her lips after the kiss.

"I love you too... and Jane was right. Having another baby would be awesome, I'm just afraid something will go wrong. That's why I refused."

"So deep inside you did want one all along?" Beca asked and Chloe nodded sadly "It's okay to be afraid Chlo, I am too, it's normal. We'll cross that bridge when we get there all right?"

"Yeah" Chloe rubbed their noses together and giggled kissing Beca again "God, I missed this so much."

"No talk" Beca kept kissing her for a while until they gasped for air "Now that I remember, what _something fun all together_ should we do?"

Chloe kissed her again while she thought and then pulled apart.

"We could go to a McDonalds for lunch and then get them to the park, it's been long since they last went."

Not much later, the five of them where in the car, Beca driving, as they sang with their whole lungs to some very lively music, dancing in their seats and laughing like they used to do long ago.

" _This is my fight song, take back my life, soon! Prove I'm alright soon! My power's turned on, starting right now, I'll be strong, I'll play my fight song!_ " Chloe was singing with her whole heart while dancing and giggling, and Beca laughed looking at her from her sideways and the children from the rear mirror, who were dancing in their seats and jumping and cheering excitedly, and singing the parts they knew, or yelling them. Beca joined to the singing wholeheartedly " _And I don't really care if nobody else believes, 'cause I've still got, a lot of fight left in me!_ "

"Yey!" Kammy yelled and they laughed happy to hear her so hidden voice.

"Why are we so happy now?" Micah asked when the song ended "Did something great happen?"

"We are happy because life is to enjoy it son" Chloe replied smiling blushing from the excitement "we feel the sadness when it's time to feel it, but momma and I are currently teaching you that one has to get back to the road, pull oneself together, and sing as loud as possible as you eat the whole wide world!"

"Yeah!" Beca approved excitedly "Of course something great happened, too. It happened that your momma convinced me to do something I never thought I wanted, which leaded to us falling in love with each other, which leaded to us fighting for a better future, which leaded to us getting married and having the amazing three children we have. We are the Mitchells kids, and if there's something I know for sure, is that a Mitchell never gives up, and your mamma's blood is Beale, and since you guys are 50% Beale inside too, I'll tell you what that means. Beales are freakin' lions, and lions take care of the things they love, no matter what, all right?"

"Yeah!" the three kids cheered, and Chloe chuckled kissing Beca hard on the lips, even if Beca kept an eye on the road.

They were listening to a radio that always put mostly old songs and sometimes a new one, because the couple wanted their children to know the awesome music that used to be always talked about, since they'll know the new hits in the school. One of those old songs listened, more like a ballad, and Chloe sang softly, to the children and Beca's joy. Truth was, music hadn't been heard in the house or the car in a long time, Chloe hadn't sang a word in weeks, and Beca only sang very softly to keep her promise while working or putting the kids to bed.

" _Come home, come home. Cause I've been waiting for you, for so long, for so long. Right now there's a war between the vanities, but all I see is you and me. The fight for you is all I've ever known, ever known, so come home. Oh, everything I can't be is everything you should be, and that's why I need you here. Everything I can't be is everything you should be, and that's why I need you here. So hear this now..._ " Chloe and Beca smiled at each other every time Beca took her eye off the road, and even when she didn't she could blush seeing Chloe looking lovingly at her from sideways. After that, Beca sang Sum 41's _With me_ , along with the radio, a song she knew by heart because she used to listen to Sum 41 a lot as a teen. Then, as the radio experimented some sound difficulties during a tunnel, she sang Sum 41's _Best of me_ , which Micah also knew and sang because Beca used to sing it to him a lot when he was younger for some reason.

"All right, we want three children menus, with great toys by the way, and two chicken burgers with big _cocks_ , please" Beth demanded to the receptionist when they arrived the McDonalds, held to the counter by Chloe -who quickly corrected to _cokes_ blushing as Beca started to laugh hard, not being able to hold it together-, in such a serious imitation of polite adults that made the family bit their lips as they tried hard to held their bursts of laughter behind them, until they let go as they sat on their favorite table.

"I -and by the look of the poor guy, I think he neither- can't believe our four year old little princess just asked for two _big cocks_!" Beca laughed into Chloe's ear as they sat, and she laughed too "Fucking hilarious." She knew everybody at work, twitter, facebook and their social circle would know soon, because her daughter was the best.

Chloe calmed herself after five minutes of hysterical laughing and by then the children were already playing with their menu's toys. Beca's phone rang.

"Oh, it's grandpa Alan!" she announced to the family as she took the call "Hi dad, what's up?"

"Hey sweetie, we're fine, how's the family?"

"Actually, we are all having an awesome day, you just caught us chilling in the McDonalds!"

"Oh really? I'm happy to hear that! Listen, Addie's eleven birthday is next week, on Saturday, we were thinking maybe you'd like to come for a few days? You could come for lunch on Friday and then go whenever you want." The summer holidays had started already so they didn't had work or anything. Her dad was now a professor emeritus.

"That would be great, I'll ask the family and consult it with the therapists because we have daily appointments and maybe they wouldn't like us to miss too much of those" Beca replied "I'll call you tomorrow okay?"

"Awesome. Love you all!"

"The same, bye!" she hung up "So, your grandpa wanted to know if we'd like to go to Atlanta for a few days next week for your aunty Addison's birthday!"

"Yeah!" Beth smiled.

"If there's cake, I'm in" Micah replied while eating. Kai just looked confused, but nodded anyway. Beca looked at Chloe with a tiny smile.

"Great!" Chloe kissed her "we have to consult with the therapists, but if they let us, I'd be nice to get out of the house and back to Atlanta for a few days."

"Agree" Beca smiled "I can ask Wyatt to take _Avery_ for a few days, and we can take _Billie-Jean_ with us. So family, we want an one hour flight, or eight hours on the road?"

The children looked thoughtful for a while. Chloe and Beca had made with them the way by car many times too because they had a lot of fun on road trips, could take everything they wanted, and had less waiting, less getting up earlier, and they didn't have to tolerate the airport bunch of people, fans, extra security, and everything else.

"Car" Beth nodded convinced.

"Only if there's music" added Micah.

"Car?" Kammy put a bunch of potatoes on her mouth and nodded.

"Was that a question sweetie?" Chloe giggled stroking the youngest Mitchell's hair, who didn't reply. Beca smiled chewing her hamburger and putting an arm around Chloe's back stroking her upper arm lovingly.

"Momma, there's something I don't understand" Beth said frowning "Mamma has two parents that are our grandparents, and three siblings that are around her age, and have children too, that are our cousins. But" she took a sip from her juice "you have two parents, but you don't call your mamma, mamma, but Sheila, and you presented them to us as grandpa Alan and Sheila, and your sister is so much younger than you and won't give us cousins. Why is that?"

Beca and Chloe both smiled at the child's confusion.

"Well maybe that's a bit complicated for you to understand, but let's try" Beca took a sip from her coke "Your granddad Alan married Sarah Baker, who's your actual grandmother on my side and for whom Beth is named after, and had two children; first your uncle Joseph, for whom Micah has his name, and five years later, myself. Your uncle married aunt Kendra, and they had a boy, named Jack Finley Mitchell. I've talked to you guys about them many times, but I guess at your age you forget things every now and then, so it's okay. So, when I was fifteen and your uncle eighteen, your grandpa Alan divorced grandma Sarah, which is that sometimes when two married people don't work together anymore, they stop being married and they go back to living separated lives. Sometime after, your grandpa married Sheila, who is not my mother because I already have one, and not your grandma because you haven't a single bit of her blood on your veins neither, and they had Addison, and that's why she's so young, because she comes from a second marriage, and so young she can't give you cousins either, and Addison isn't my sister but my step-sister, just like Sheila is my step-mother. My personal judgment as of why I do call Addie my sister and your aunt is because I've never had a sister really, well, a sister-in-law yes, but not one that was in any way really related to me, and I love your grandpa, and if she's in any way a little part of him, then has the right to be called a sister or an aunt. Plus, Sheila and I didn't really got along until a few years ago, so..." she shrugged and smiled.

"But momma, why wouldn't you present us your family?" Micah asked confused.

"We go see them a few times every year, like last winter Micah, although it's not how we'll wish it to be so maybe you forgot... you remember when we go to Portland, the cemetery with all the snow?" Chloe explained sweetly, and Beca curved her lips into a tiny smile as Micah frowned. Kamara listened closely and Beth rose her eyebrows and nodded in realization.

"I remember but what has that to do with...?" Micah started and Beth interrupted.

"They live there Micah. They're dead" Beth explained softly "I forgot they were them..."

"It's normal sweetheart, you are too young to remember things we only sometimes talk about, and you didn't even know them" Beca said comprehensive and Micah looked sad.

"Why are they dead momma? Grandma Beale is like the oldest and she's alive!"

"Because" Beca sighed and supported her arms on the table to be closer to her children, who sat in front of Chloe and her "You know there are good and bad in the world, right?" the three of them nodded "well, long ago I had the bad fortune of meeting a very bad woman that I thought wasn't that bad, but she was, and even worst, she was mentally ill, so she was even more dangerous and I didn't know. Some years passed without me knowing nothing from her, and nine years ago, she... well, she killed our family members, honey" Beth looked angry, Micah sad, and Kamara confused. Beca and Chloe smiled at them a bit in a sweet and comforting way "But hey, don't be so sad! The woman is dead too, and she paid a reasonable prize for what she did. And we have pics at home I can show you whenever you want uh? Come on, today's a good day!"

Little by little they got to have the children cheery again, and then went to a park close to home that the children loved because it even had a duck pond, where they went give them food and then they went to the children area that had a castle for children, sledges, swings, and things like that. While Chloe went in the sledge with Kai, Beca put an eye on the two older children.

"Look momma!" Micah called while he walked on a wood bridge that was as tall as Chloe, and then down a sledge.

"Well done Micah!" the brunette smiled at him and then followed him and Beth to the swings and pushed them as they asked to go _higher, higher_ which Beca knew could only be Beale heritage because that wasn't normal for a four and a three year old.

So when Chloe was driving back home, she wasn't surprised at all when Beca and the three children fell fast asleep. She woke Beca up when they arrived and together they took the children to their beds for a nap before dinner, and after a quick dinner, the children went back to bed and Beca and Chloe snuggled together in the couch with a blanket watching some old Bella videos in Beca's laptop.

"Hey, Swanson's calling" Beca said looking at the _Skype_ icon, and accepted the call. Beca and Chloe appeared in the superior and right corner, both snuggled closely in the couch, Chloe hugging Beca lovingly and resting her cheek on Beca's hair, and in the rest of the screen they saw Jesse and Aubrey snuggled on their couch too, as touchy as always "Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. S." Beca liked to poke them with the Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie.

"How are you guys?" Chloe grinned at them. The couple smiled.

"Good, we were watching a movie and saw you guys online so decided to check" Aubrey replied.

"How are you?" Jesse asked. Beca and Chloe stared at each other and smiling before replying.

"We are very good, actually" Beca replied, and Jesse rose his eyebrows in surprise. The last few weeks they had gotten used to one of them calling crying, usually Chloe-Aubrey and Beca-Jesse, and sometimes the other way, or Beca would Skype Jesse or vice versa and Beca would be exhausted and sad.

"Really?" Jesse asked. Aubrey smiled.

"Yeah, we had an awesome counselor session today, and we decided to start over, no more blaming nobody, or being angry or anything, and mostly, no more pretending and lying" Chloe explained.

"We took the children to the McDonalds for lunch, and to the park, and then ordered Chinese for dinner" Beca added "so it was a pretty good day, and felt nice to get out of here for one day."

"The kids were so drained they fell asleep on the car, including Beca, and they were so falling asleep in their chairs during dinner we tucked them to bed right after, didn't even listen to a whole song before falling asleep." Chloe finalized stroking her wife's hair. By then, their friends looked quite happy and pleased "How was your day?"

"We took the children to a family lunch with my family" Aubrey replied "and their grandpas wanted to take them to the zoo, so we all went, and then had dinner here. It was nice."

"Cool" Beca smiled a bit and _Bella_ , the Swanson's cat, jumped into Aubrey's lap "so are the kids on holiday yet over there?"

"Sure, we just had our first holiday day today" Jesse replied "The Bellas were planning the annual summer vacation altogether this morning I think, Cynthia called. Jessica and Jeremy can't come because their newborn is too young, but the rest are in, you in?"

"We'll have to consult it, but probably yes. Where are we going this year?" Chloe replied. Last year they were in Spain and loved it, the year before it was the Spanish Canary Islands, and in 2023 they skipped because Micah arrived April 27 and was too young for big travels, and also Beca was really drained, but in 2022 they went to Hawaii and it was cool. They had been doing those travels ever since 2015 so they had many memories, videos and photos of that.

"Sicily" Aubrey replied "You guys let us know okay?"

"All right" Beca suppressed a yawn "Honey, I'm gonna go to sleep, I'm exhausted" she said looking at Chloe, who nodded.

"Yeah, me too" she looked back to the screen "night night guys, talk tomorrow?"

"Sure, sleep well!"

Twenty minutes later, Beca was hugging Chloe from behind in their bed, her nose tucked behind Chloe's neck, but hadn't fallen asleep yet. She decided to open her eyes in the dark, and stroke Chloe's belly with the hand she had there.

"Are you still awake?" Beca whispered.

"Yeah" Chloe whispered tiredly "why?"

"I was thinking and couldn't fall asleep" Beca replied. Chloe rolled to lay on her other side facing Beca, her head supported on one arm over the pillow and her other hand rested on Beca's hip. Beca found her eyes in the darkness somehow "After talking with the kids today, I just realized my brother was thirty years old when he died, and I'm turning thirty three in two months, and it's weird... he was always five years older than me no matter what, and now suddenly I'm older than he ever was. It feels weird."

Chloe moved the hand from her hip and stroke her cheek lovingly giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"It's okay" Chloe whispered "He's okay now. Nobody will hurt any of them anymore."

"I know" Beca moved her face to kiss Chloe's palm "it's just the sudden realization, you know? I'm not good with math, I kind of forgot how old we were back then, and didn't caught it until today. A little sister is never supposed to be older than her older siblings right? But it still happens sometimes. And back then I knew what happened was horrible, but know I'm even a little older than they were, and married like him, and have children around Jackie's age, like, he was two and Beth turned four like eight months ago? and Micah just turned two, so that age is not hard to imagine. It's just now I can imagine more accurately than back then how it would feel to have your kid watching you die, or your wife, and knowing the same things that you and your wife are suffering will happen to him and you won't be able to do anything about it. And it's just... I can't let anything hurt them, Chloe, I know world is crap and bad things will happen but not like that, and I cannot let them see us go through anything the slightest like that." In the last couple sentences, her voice was already broken.

"It'll be okay Beca. They're gonna be fine, and we will be too, and whenever something is not all right, we'll be right there to help them out. They are not gonna die, and nothing not even half as horrible will ever happen to them or to us. We won't let it happen." Chloe nodded and kissed her again, tasting salt on Beca's lips "We will do anything, whatever it takes, I swear."


	5. Chapter 5

_Since I'm seeing I'm maybe updating so fast you guys don't have time to catch up with the reading and review, I've decided to let around_ _ **5 days or a week**_ _pass between chapter and chapter_ _ **in all my fics**_ _it'll be five days or I'll be a week depending on how I see you guys are doing and stuff, since I know seeing suddenly so many chapters up when you guys probably have tons of things to do can be a bit overwhelming right?_

 _Thanks Mila! Comixgirlx, didn't understand you but thanks for the congrats! We're really enjoying. Well, I'm actually happy like a Weasley baby would be._

 _About this chapter, I would say is a pretty good one._

Chapter 5: Atlanta, Georgia.

There were around nine hours by car between the Mitchell's home in Norfolk Virginia, and the Mitchell's home in Atlanta Georgia, that was by car twenty minutes apart from Barden University. Rebeca and Chloe Mitchell had gotten their respective therapists to let them go after the morning session that Friday, as long as they appeared on their morning session next Monday, so instead of taking the minivan, they took Beca's Lexus that had room enough for the five of them as long as Beth sat between her siblings and in a child's car half chair -which consisted in having only the ass part so the child would be higher in her seat and the belt would be properly adjusted- instead of a child's car full chair, that couldn't fit there. For the first two hours and a half, Chloe drove, then Beca drove for another two hours, then Chloe another two, and Beca drove the last two hours and a half, so anybody would be too tired. During the whole ride they had sleeping turns, good music, and even some classic road games, but after the eleven hour trip -they had children which meant more stops and lunch breaks than they would've had if they were traveling without them- they were parking right behind Alan's car at nine post meridiem.

"Careful!" Chloe yelled Beth as the child ran to the house door, where Alan and Addie were standing already, and Beca took the sleeping Kamara up in her arms, supporting her on her hip as the baby slept on her shoulder "Hi Alan, Addie!" she greeted as the pair went to help them with their travel bags, since Beca was busy with Kammy. Micah and Beth hugged them and wasted no time running with _Billie_ to find Sheila.

"How was the trip?" asked Addison smiling as she took Beca's laptop bag and went with them to the house.

"Too long, but it was fun" Chloe smiled not really tired after having slept very well during the trip, and they went into the house.

"Hi Sheila, how are you?" Beca gave her step mother a tired smile and two kisses when she spotted her in the kitchen, were they went while Alan took their things to their room upstairs. The Mitchells lived in a big, elegant and sophisticated house with a huge garden and a pool, and the children loved it there.

"Very good thank you. Oh, little Kammy fell asleep, such a cutie" she smiling distracting herself from the cooking to stroke the child's back.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go put her in bed until dinner" Beca said.

She climbed the stairs and went to their room, where she found Alan leaving their luggage. The children slept in the guest's room in a big bed surrounded by children's protective barriers, except Kamara. Beca and her brother had a room in that house as teens and after Beca left Barden, her brother's room became Addie's room, who had just born, and Beca's stood pretty much the same, with her big bed and some empty shelves and closet because she never slept there if she could avoid it, and now when they came, Chloe and Beca slept there and if it was a less than two years old child like Kammy now, Alan put the old crib all the Mitchell children had used at some point in their lives, in their room. But when Beca arrived, she choose to just lay Kammy in the middle of their bed and surround her by pillows, and went to change her diaper and put her her pajama body suit.

"So how's everything going?" Alan asked sitting in the bed while Beca cleaned her daughter's intimacies as the baby still slept before putting a clean diaper on.

"We've been really good the last days" Beca said and smiled a bit, resisting the urge to make a fart noise on Kamara's chubby belly to avoid waking her up and starting to put her tiny legs into the body suit. "I'm just a bit tired now, but I'm good dad, we are all doing much better. How are things here?"

"Good, good" Alan nodded and smiled looking at his youngest granddaughter "She's growing fast!"

"Yeah, she is" Beca smiled "she keeps scaring us sometimes at night though, but it less frequent as time goes on."

The Beales were real fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Team, and one summer when they were in Tampa during college, Beca had discovered Chloe had a t-shirt of the Hockey Team, a navy blue and long sleeved one with two white bands on the arms, a white lightning on the chest, with _C. Beale_ written under it, and a big number five on white in the middle of the back with _Beale_ written under it. Beca had thought it was hilarious, and Chloe loved it, so when they got married, as a joke and a wedding present Chloe's parents had gotten them two shirts that were the same, only that Beca said _R. Mitchell_ -Beca had complained it wasn't a _B_ , but she still loved it, only liked to pretend disgust for her pride- on the front and had a big number 1 and _Mitchell_ written on the back and Chloe's said _C. Mitchell_ on the front and had a big number 2 and _Mitchell_ written on the back. After that, it had became a tradition that the Beales gave one of the kids one of those t-shirts customized specially for them. Beth was number three, Micah four and Kammy five, and unless their t-shirt still fitted them, they went back home with a new one each time they went to Tampa, unless Kammy, who had a body suit instead of a t-shirt because she was still a baby, not that Micah wasn't a baby, but he preferred being called an _adult baby_. And right now, Kammy was wearing her Lightning body and Beca loved it.

"Here" Alan took a blanket from the closet and gave it to Beca to tuck Kammy with it. Beca woke the child for a moment and held her in her arms as she gave her very quickly her feeding bottle and when she finished, Beca tucked her to bed. After she did and they made sure for the fifth time that she was surrounded by pillows completely, they went back downstairs, where the children, Addie and Chloe were getting the table ready for dinner.

"I gave Kammy the baby bottle and she's sleeping" Beca said hugging her wife from behind and kissing her on the lips when Chloe turned to face her.

"Awesome" Chloe smiled against her lips kissing her again.

"Is Micah starting preschool after the summer?" Addie asked when they were having dinner.

"Next year" Chloe replied "We were gonna wait until next year to send Kammy to kindergarten too, but we've been thinking that maybe she should go in September, because she barely talks and has it hard with English."

"Yeah, maybe that would be good" Alan nodded "and you won't have to worry about nannies."

"Grandpa, can I go to bed now? I'm really t'red" Micah said when he finished his plate.

"Sure, have a good night!"

"We'll go tuck you later" Beca said as the boy went to kiss her goodnight. Beth didn't took long to join her brother, and almost at the same time they heard Kamara crying upstairs.

"I'll go" Chloe said seeing Beca was about to get up "I've already finished." She came back shortly after with the very awake kid bouncing on her lap with her thumb on her mouth "She woke up and got scared, stopped crying right when she saw me." Chloe explained sitting on her chair, and Beca smiled at the kid kissing her cheek lovingly.

"You seem much better the last time we met" Sheila said happily and Chloe smiled.

"Yeah, counselor just got a hundred times better" she admitted "Oh, I checked on the children before coming, they're both fast asleep." Beca nodded.

"I'll go before heading to bed" Beca said. They never, ever, missed kissing their children before going to bed, and tucking them and sometimes even singing or telling them a tale "Frankly, they spent the last two hours and a half of the trip singing and dancing encouraged by you, it's not weird they're wasted" she chuckled and Chloe smiled with her tongue between her teeth.

"Hey, does Kammy know Namibian?" Addie asked.

"If she does, she's keeping the secret" Beca replied.

"I think she understands Namibian, at least better than English" Chloe said looking at the little Afro-American.

"She's so cute" Sheila said smiling at the baby, who was looking around really curious "and Micah grew a lot."

"Lucky for him it's not a hundred percent my genes" Beca joked.

"I think you are very alike. More than taller, he seems older in maturity, talking, being in general, not like a three year old. You were the same" Alan commented "Oh, actually just yesterday I was organizing some drawers and found a picture of yours were you and Micah seem twins. Give me a sec."

He got up and came back with an old Polaroid that showed a baby of no more than three years, probably less, with very chubby cheeks, dark blue eyes, and very wavy brown short hair completely wild, looking at the camera with wide eyes in surprise, her mouth serious, a xylophone on her lap, and the xylophone wood sticks in her chubby fists in the air. She was dressed with overalls.

"Oh dear God! So damn cute!" Chloe chuckled and then gasped "God! I think I've got a pic of Micah that is like exactly the same." She went through her phone and laughed showing them another pic, this one of Micah a few weeks before his birthday, with the exact same wavy hair, his face a bit more round shape, the almost exact same eyes, and he was sitting in the piano with his hands over the keyboard, and also wearing overalls.

"Come on, seriously?" Beca laughed.

"Aw, you are twins, how cute!" Addison added.

Chloe made sure of keeping Alan's pic and after dinner, they only stayed chatting for a while until they went to bed. Chloe went first to bed, tucking Kamara into her crib, and Beca went to see their eldest children before entering the room, kissing Kamara and sitting in the side of the bed to change her clothes while Chloe observed already tucked into bed.

"Ouch, driving so much killed my back" Beca commented stirring when she was just about to put her pajama t-shirt and go to sleep "Seriously, I don't know why I contract so much."

"Don't put the t-shirt on and I'll give you a back rub" Chloe said looking at her back. Beca looked at her over her own shoulder.

"You'd do that?"

"Of course Beca, you're the love of my life" Chloe stated the obvious and Beca grinned "come on, lay down before I regret it" she joked, and Beca got laid face down, and Chloe sat with her knees at both sides of Beca's hips, got the brunette hair out of her back and pressed her palms against the tensed shoulders, eliciting an instant muffled moan. She realized they hadn't really touched in more than a month, or had any sexual contact, not even the slightest.

"God Chlo you're an angel." Chloe giggled passing her hands through the soft, warm skin, from the floral tattoo on her right scalp to the music horizontal bars on her mid back that were the same she had seen a thousand times on Beca's laptop that indicated the high of the pitches as they went one after another. She massaged Beca's back and also her arms, through her bug tattoo on her right forearm to the headphones tattooed on her left wrist and the _Ce n'est pas moi_ tattoo on her forearm in that arm _,_ and she did it so lovingly earning more muffled sounds of pleasure from time to time from the brunette. Without barely realizing, Chloe started singing.

" _You fascinated me, cloaked in shadows and secrecy, the beauty of a broken angel. I ventured carefully afraid of what you thought I'd be, but pretty soon I was entangled. You take me by the hand, I question who I am, teach me how to fight, I'll show you how to win, you're my mortal flaw and I'm your fatal sin, let me feel the sting, the pain, the burn under my skin. Put me to the test, I'll prove that I'm strong, won't let myself believe, that what we feel is wrong, I finally see what you knew was inside me all along. That behind this soft exterior, lies a warrior. My memory refused to separate the lies from truth and search the past my mind created. I kept on pushing through, standing resolute which you, in equal measure loved and hated. You take me by the hand, I'm seeing who I am. Teach me how to fight, I'll show you how to win, you're my mortal flaw, and I'm your fatal sin, let me feel the sting, the pain, the burn under my skin, put me to the test, I'll prove that I'm strong, won't let myself believe that what we feel is wrong, I finally see what you knew was inside me all along. That behind this soft exterior lies a warrior. Lies a warrior... You take me by the hand, I'm sure of who I am. Teach me how to fight, I'll show you how to win, you're my mortal flaw and I'm your fatal sin, let me feel the sting, the pain, the burn under my skin. Put me to the test, I'll prove that I'm strong, won't let myself believe that what we feel is wrong, I finally see what you knew was inside me all along. That behind this soft exterior, lies a warrior. The pictures come to life, wake in the dead of night, open my eyes I must be dreaming. Clutch my pillow tight, brace myself for the fight, I've heard that seeing is believing."_ When she ended, she saw Beca was probably slept already, and she stroke her upper arms and leaned pressing her front to her back and kissing the crook of her neck.

"You're so beautiful" she whispered before kissing the shorter girl, and then moved to lay on her side and put the duvet over the both of them, smiling and stroking Beca's back with a hand as she heard her deep breathing.

It was early in the morning when Beca woke up, having rolled in her sleep, and was now looking at the ceiling, and Chloe had used her clavicle as a pillow and had an arm over Beca's abdomen, sleeping deeply. Beca smiled looking down at her and kissed her forehead before hugging her tighter and falling asleep again. She was woken up by laughter and three children jumping on their bed, taking advantage of all the space Chloe had left by cuddling onto Beca. The couple disentangled slowly and opened their eyes blinking. The eldest must have freed their little sis, because Beth was jumping and laughing energetically with her brother and Kamara was giggling knelt beside them.

"Breakfast's ready!" Beth was screaming.

"All right buccaneers!" Chloe got up quickly, chuckling, and pushed the children against the duvet tickling them until they beg her to stop. Beca smiled and was about to join when she remembered she was naked at pulled the duvet up to cover herself better, looking for her t-shirt and quickly putting it on and then joining her family with the tickling.

"Please, please!" Beth begged, and the mothers smiled stopping instantly.

"So breakfast's ready, uh?" Beca got out of the bed and took Kamara sitting on her shoulders and threw Micah on her shoulder carefully like a bag of potatoes, making the kid laugh as they went downstairs to the kitchen island. Chloe followed them giggling with Beth on her back, playing horse "Good morning everyone!" she greeted her dad and step family when they arrived "Very happy birthday to you sis!" she added hugging her sister.

"Thank you!" she smiled "look what mom and dad gave me" she went to the kitchen island and showed her a brand new watch "isn't it pretty?"

"It is" Beca nodded and smiled a bit "we've got your present upstairs, let me go get it."

"Nah, have breakfast, there's time" Addie smiled and went to hug Beth, who giggled.

"So eleven, uh?" Chloe smiled at Addie while she prepared her toast "It's amazing how time flies, I could swear just yesterday you were a cute toddler just like Beth now."

"Yeah, it's crazy" Addie giggled "next year I'll be in high school!"

"Oh dear" Beca laughed "may the force be with you." Chloe laughed.

"Why?" asked Addison.

"High school is either amazing or horrible, and if it's amazing, is usually because you're a powerful bully or something like that."

"Well I'm hopeful I'll be good for me. Maybe I'll be a cheerleader."

"Really, you like those things?" Beca was surprised.

"Why not? Wasn't Chloe one?"

"Yeah" Chloe nodded "but I gotta tell you most of them are bitches, so be really careful okay?"

"Okay, I'll be careful" Addie looked disappointed with the ideal high school experience she was hoping for "Anyway, I'm seeing some friends now, see you for lunch?"

"Yes sweetie, remember we have the cake" her mother kissed her on the cheek and Addie waved at everyone and kissed her nephew and nieces before she left "Doesn't she reminds you of yourself with her age Becs?"

"She doesn't really" Beca shrugged "every kid is a world."

"Hey honey, maybe we could take the kids to see Barden? It should be empty except for the few students that have failed and are studying for September" Chloe said.

"Yeah, that would be cool" Beca grinned "do you guys wanna see where your mammas studied?" she looked at their little offspring, who nodded with their mouths full.

"This hasn't changed a thing" Chloe smiled as the five of them stood in the auditorium where the Bellas used to rehearse.

"Yeah" Beca nodded "see kids? This is where history started to be made for the Bellas, were the magic happens, oh, and the piano is still there! I used to use it as a table for my laptop while doing mixes here."

"This place is cool" Beth asked "so big! Aw, mamma, can we see the Bellas house?"

"I don't think we can get in t..." Beca started.

"Sure, I've got the key" Chloe said, and surprisingly, the Bellas hadn't changed the lock in eleven years. The house was the same as always, and was very clean after the Bellas had left for the summer, but the mothers showed the children the pictures, in many of them they still were, and their aunts and uncles, and even the rooms that used to be theirs.

"Hey, you are here!" Micah smiled pointing at a framed picture of the World Championship in 2015, where the Bellas were in their final positions laughing as Beca and Chloe held their first place award in the air, as the winners.

"Yeah, that was an awesome night" Beca smiled at the memory.

"You have barely changed" Beth commented.

"And here I found your mother throwing up after her 21th birthday party" Chloe joked as they walked around the house, pointing a closet.

"Oh, I remember the day you showed me sliding downstairs tradition" Beca giggled as they went back downstairs and left the house.

"Will Kammy and I be Bellas someday?" Beth asked back in the car.

"Maybe, but you'll have to study here in Barden sweetie" Chloe replied "but there are a cappella teams in every college I believe, and if not, you can always create it!"

"Uhm, I like the Barden Bellas" Beth smiled. Beca laughed.

"I'd pay anything to see their teacher's faces if they go to Barden and say they're Mitchells, like, Beca Mitchell's kids" she whispered laughing.

"You weren't a bad student, only a class occasional skipper" Chloe giggled and kissed her "I love you."

"I love you too." Beca smiled back, and Chloe drove them back to the Mitchell's home. Beca never said she loved anyone without really meaning it, but truth is, during the more than a month they had spent grieving in a really bad way, she hadn't felt anything inside from saying she loved Chloe, she said it because she knew she felt it, but didn't feel the excitement that usually came with those words, the same way she felt that when Chloe had said those, she had felt it more as an apology or an excuse than because the ginger really meant any of it, but now, she felt excited again every time she said out loud how much she loved her wife, and she really felt excited, and loved, and those thunders in her insides when Chloe said she loved her.

They spent the rest of the Saturday mostly focused on Addison's birthday, and at the end of the day, Beca went to take a shower, and when she entered the bedroom ready to go to bed, she found Chloe frowning looking at the mirror in the closet, shirtless, and Beca realized she was frowning in disgust while staring at the tiny scar on her low abdomen.

"What are you doing?" Beca asked in a casual tone while going to the closet to leave her pants inside.

"Nothing" Chloe replied and abruptly she put her t-shirt back on, and went to their bed with an upset expression. Beca laid beside her and looked at her after a while in silence.

"You are still as beautiful and sexy as the Chloe Beale I met fifteen years ago" she whispered "even more, I could say." Chloe seethed "What? Don't you believe me?"

"Becs, I love you and you love me and I know you just want me to feel better, but I know you are exaggerating."

"I'm not" Beca stroke her arm "hey, look at me" Chloe did unwillingly "you are the most stunningly beautiful woman in the world. At least to me."

Chloe rolled her eyes looking away.

"I've got a weird scar on my forehead, I haven't recovered my body completely after Beth's birth, I have stretching marks from it, I have other weird scars, and now I have this really ugly one..."

"And what? I've got many scars too, and stretching marks, and I haven't recovered my body completely after giving birth either, and what? Do you love me any less for it, am I any worse to your eyes for it?"

"No, not at all, you're beautiful Beca, but..."

"But what?" Beca smiled at her "it's just the same. Your scars make you interesting, and you are too beautiful for them to even try and make you any ugly, and your marks remind us of our beautiful children, and you are the most wonderful" she kissed her, climbing over her supporting on her arms "amazing" another kiss "perfect" kiss "prettiest" kiss "sexiest" kiss "hottest" kiss "beautiful" kiss "woman" kiss "I've ever" kiss "seen." Sealed with a final kiss "You're fucking stunning Chloe, and every time I get to wake up beside you and just look at your face, even asleep or just woken up, my heart still races, my stomach still flips, and I still believe I'm so incredibly lucky for getting to wake up next to the greatest thing in the entire Universe every day."

"Really?" Chloe locked watery eyes with her, and Beca grinned nodding, her face suspended just a few centimeters over Chloe's "you don't think it makes me not even a little bit ugly?"

"Not at all. In fact" Beca supported in one arm and pulled Chloe's t-shirt up, leaning and kissing her scar softly, and Chloe grinned as the brunette draw a line of kisses up to her belly, and as high as she could up over her sternum until she reached the tucked up t-shirt, and then pullet it down again and kissed Chloe on the lips lovingly for a while, and then snuggled beside her, laying on her side, with an elbow on the pillow and her temple on her hand, the other hand busy caressing Chloe's cheek, looking intently at her "I've loved you for around eleven years, you're my wife, you're the mother of the three most amazing kiddos I've ever met, nothing can stop me from loving you Chlo, not even a scar. And to my eyes, you will always, always be the sexiest woman I'll see."

"I love you so much" Chloe pulled her in for a kiss "don't ever leave me."

"Never."

"We are going to be okay right?" Chloe asked stroking her cheek.

"We are okay Chlo" Beca gave her a tiny smile "and whenever we aren't, it's only temporary. We are fighters, remember?" she snuggled her face on Chloe's clavicle "goodnight love."

"Goodnight sweetheart."


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm still updating once per week, between multiple reasons one is that University and life have my memory in everything but updating, so I'm just setting Fridays as the updating day for now until I can manage more often stuff, since Friday is my day of being most relaxed. Also, great amount of reviews always pushes me to work harder and better, of course._

 _Titanium has me quite disappointed in reviews, but I'm always thankful to Mila, one of those unique people who never fail to impress me._

 _Here's a good, calm chapter!_

Chapter 6: Sicily.

Weeks went by in relative calmness, only interrupted by some small breakdowns from time to time, that with the help of their therapy sessions, now shortened to a couple times per week, and their couple counselor, they learned to get past. In baby steps, they were improving themselves and getting better and better again, and before they realized, it was July 29th, their wedding anniversary, and it got to be spent in Sicily, where they had gone with the Bellas and their families to spend a couple weeks.

All the Bellas had families now. Ashley was an amazing chef married to Frank Townsend, a doctor, with whom she had Michael, born December 2021, and Henry, born February 2024, and they lived in Washington D.C; Flo taught singing and dancing to the most disadvantaged children in Atlanta. She married guitarist Leonardo Ramirez a year ago, but they didn't have kids yet; Bumper and Amy Allen married a year ago, Bumper was an actor in Broadway, and Amy owned a chain of clubs and restaurants. They were parents of Gabriella Patricia, born December 2019, Christopher James, born July 2022, and Rachel Kelley, born September 2024, and they all lived in New York City. Cynthia-Rose was a professional singer and songwriter who had a model as a wife, Grace, and the Adams-Delevigne family lived in New York City too, and had Ruby, born September 2021, and Matthew, born January 2023; Stacie was a professional dancer who in 2021 married an actor from Broadway named Bob Killian and they had Ewan, born April 2023, and Dennis, born January 2025. They also lived in New York City; Benji and Emily had gotten married in 2023 and moved from Los Angeles to NYC, where Benji was an actor in Broadway and Emily a professional singer and songwriter, and they had little Hailee, born August 2024; Jessica was a singer and songwriter too, and in 2022, she married a firefighter named Jeremy Williams. The couple, who lived in Atlanta, welcomed Helena in February 2023, and they now had an almost three months old baby Martha, so the Williams didn't go to Sicily with the rest; Lilly opened a beat-boxing school and dated Koru Osaka, a drummer, with whom she had been for a couple years and they lived in Chicago; then there was Jesse, a music scorer that had gotten quite famous, just like many of the Bellas and Trebles, and he and Aubrey, who owner an empire of retirement places, married in May 31, 2024, after having welcomed Daniel Marcus and Anna Margaret in April 7, 2019, and the last one, Catherine Rebeca, born November 12, 2024. They lived in New York City. So the 34 of them had gotten themselves to Sicily not caring about definitely being too many people, and they were staying in a very huge and luxurious hotel with big suites for each family, were they could even hire hotel nannies to look after their children, with allowed them to leave their sleeping children at their suites and the 18 adults got together in the fancy restaurant the hotel had to celebrate the six years of Mitchell-Beale marriage, and also love and recovery, two things that were pretty important in that marriage.

The whole day had been a competition of love gestures between Beca and Chloe, a competition that happened every year and every year concluded with a tie. They gave each other flowers, chocolates, massages, little gifts, and love, although they skipped the traditional sex celebration, because sex had been out of the equation for as long as it had been since Chloe's ectopic pregnancy.

"Cheers!" they drinks clinked against each other in the air and they drank happily after toasting for the marriage and the love.

"Mmm, this is so nice" Beca kissed her wife and sat back on the chair.

"You had us a bit disappointed when neither of you asked us to distract the kids for the anniversary sex appointment" Bumper commented and Amy elbowed him.

"Bumper!" she whispered.

"There wasn't sex today" Chloe said without letting that make her uncomfortable "so we didn't have to have our children distracted."

"Right" Beca nodded and drank from her cup "sex isn't like essential in every celebration guys."

"Come on, you guys have eaten each other with the eyes for an eternity, you still do, you seriously had nothing today?" Stacie asked incredulous.

"That is exactly what we are saying" Beca nodded "guys, seriously stop it, sex isn't... you don't celebrate sex anniversaries, don't you? Which should be an indicator of how less important than love it is."

"Yeah, and every couple should always eat each other with the eyes, even the ones that have sex like bunnies like ten times per day" Chloe added.

"But..." Lilly was about to start and Aubrey interrupted very kindly.

"Guys, it's none of our business, we don't nose into each other's sex lives, so stop it."

Chloe smiled at Aubrey mouthing a _thank you_. It wasn't like Beca and Chloe weren't head over heels for each other, or that didn't find the other sexy or have sexual desire for the other, they did, but somehow Chloe had refused to be intimately touched every since what happened, first she had just had a surgery and wasn't up for it, and later, she didn't feel confident, sexy, to do it, and after, they were too sad, angry and frustrated, many times at each other, or tired, to even try and feel like having sex, and when that stopped, Chloe had politely avoided any sexual stuff stating that after losing an ovary and going through the whole trauma her sexual organs had gone through, she felt like she didn't wanted them to be in any activity any time soon, she explained that it was a weird and hard to explain feeling, but she just wasn't comfortable having sex. Chloe wouldn't admit it, but she was also afraid of how would it feel now that she had lost an important part of her sexual organs. And Beca just kept herself in check, although many days she thought despite being much better, she still wasn't a lot in the mood for sex.

"So six years uh?" Flo smiled "it seems like yesterday to me, seriously, although we drank so much I only remember bites after the ceremony." They laughed.

"Yeah, and it was such an awesome honeymoon too, traveling around so many weird places with the adrenaline of not knowing whether we would end up with malaria or not" Chloe smiled at the memories.

"I was pretty convinced that we would end up catching everything possible" Beca giggled "but we survived and it was nice."

"Didn't you guys end up inventing a code so you could communicate with each other from your separate suites?" Frankie remembered.

"Oh, yeah" Beca nodded "and it came very useful later in life for each time we weren't up for words."

"Like when I was in the hospital" Chloe said.

"Or when I completely lost my voice one winter" Beca remembered.

"Aw, remember when Micah was born and that night your throat was so sore from all the yelling you had to use our code?" Chloe chuckled.

"Yeah" Beca laughed "God, and I thought you were maybe overreacting at Beth's birth, but births really are painful and exhausting, at least the first time."

"Imagine giving birth to twins" Aubrey winked "at least after that Cathy came with almost no effort at all."

"Kids are amazing, if it wasn't for time and space, I would be up for twenty of them" Frankie joked and Ashley laughed.

"I hope most of them adoptive, because I'm not up for that" Ashley laughed.

"Adopting is genius" Chloe said "you do no effort at all, except for the paperwork."

"God that was eternal" Beca remembered "and having to convince them lesbians were great mothers, exhausting. Thank heavens we already had two and that made us more trustworthy somehow."

"I don't get why people get so stupid with giving people that want to adopt orphans and that are obvious good parents, kids" Jesse shook his head.

"Assholes" Amy shrugged "how is Kammy doing with her nightmares, by the way?"

"Better" Chloe nodded "she still scares the crap out of us sometimes, but she's better, and her siblings are so wonderful and understanding it makes things easier."

"Why was she having so much nightmares again?" Grace asked forgetful.

"We got told she had malaria like weeks after being born and spent many months sick with one thing or another and even spent some time in some German hospital because she was born very underweight, with the immune system of a fork, and more dead than alive really" Beca explained "so she spent many months from one place to another, from one hospital or clinic to another, and some specialist on things like these told us even if she couldn't consciously remember any of that, those were pretty scary experiences that she keeps unconsciously in the deeper parts of her brain, so they come like nightmares or inexplicable fears."

"Like when very bright lights used to bother her a lot" Chloe reminded.

"Exactly. And she didn't even understand any of what she was hearing or seeing or going through at that time, even less being so sick, so her nightmares could have no sense at all too, and because she still doesn't talk more than a few little words in very rare occasions, is not like we could find some kind of therapy that could help her somehow, like hypnosis or something." Beca said.

"Even if we could, she would get too scared to even try I think" Chloe added "she's just too young, but this specialist said the memories would end up, with time, sinking so much under many other and happier ones, the nightmares would stop. And they certainly have become really rare lately, and are definitely less strong."

"Yeah, now we can have her calm and laughing in like ten minutes, before were hours." Beca said.

"That's the shitty thing about kids, it takes a long time to figure out why are they crying, and sometimes if they don't speak it's completely impossible" Cynthia shook her head.

"Aubrey and I found out if one twin cried the other followed soon, but also they both calm down with music. Cathy takes more convincing" Jesse commented.

"But she's also the most quiet and happy baby ever, she barely cries and she always eats what she's given" Aubrey added and Jesse nodded.

"We had the worst with Dennis" Bob commented "he would only eat baby food and it took a lifetime to get him to try other stuff."

"Ours fortunately don't have problem with food" Chloe said "Beth was a bit more picky maybe, but the others eat whatever, mostly Micah, who's the most insatiable of the three."

"He's my son, that was predictable" Beca giggled and Chloe laughed nodding.

"True. Oh guys now that I remember, genes are so amazing the other day Beca's dad showed us a picture of Beca at around Micah's age and God they're twins, look, I have the two pics to compare" she looked through her phone and showed them, some laughed looking at Beca and other awwwwed.

"That's fucking crazy" Fat Amy said "like twins!"

"Vaya locura" said Leonardo in Spanish. It meant something like _great craziness._

Beca giggled and Chloe left the phone back into her purse.

"Well, I guess between being my twin and being the sperm donor's twin, I prefer the first. At the end, I was the one to have him in my insides for months and then push him out" Beca smiled.

"Yeah, and it's great, look how great he is with instruments" Chloe grinned.

"It's a shame we didn't got more time before having kids" Aubrey commented "I mean, they're awesome and now they're here I wouldn't change them for anything in the world, but there is so much to do before they come too..."

"Aw, like when we could walk in the nude around" Jesse chuckled "Yeah, I wouldn't change them for a thing ever, but it was so good when we weren't parents _too_."

"When you can wake up at noon" Frankie added.

"And you are completely independent" added Emily.

"Although they did prevent us from ending up with liver problems before the forties" Bobbie commented, and they laughed a bit, nodding.

"Oh, I've got so much good memories from that time" Chloe curved her lips into a tiny smile "like the first time we woke up in the same bed after you went to LA, and it was so wonderful." She looked lovingly at Beca, who smiled a bit and nodded.

"Now the kids wake us up almost every day." Beca shrugged content and leaned to kiss her. They started making out immersed in their own little world and the others just kept talking on their own. Beca ended up breaking the kiss and looked apologetically at the ginger "Sorry, I have to pee."

"Come on, hurry" Chloe chuckled and Beca went up to leave.

"Somebody got horny uh?" Bumper joked and Beca showed him the finger with a smile as she walked fast to the bathrooms.

"Is it because of you isn't it?" Aubrey asked carefully staring at Chloe with a worried frown turning to the side in her chair to face her friend "like, you don't feel like that after all?" she seemed genuinely worried about her friend, caressing her thigh with a hand, and Chloe nodded after a while.

"I can't explain why, but I just can't stand anything sexual in the slightest" Chloe murmured, and shrugged "She's so nice, she waits for me all that's needed."

"Fuck Chloe, sorry, I had no idea" Bumper apologized, and Chloe smiled a bit at him "for the record, I doubt she's masturbating." Chloe chuckled.

"Nah, I don't think so, and even if she did, I couldn't blame her. I am sexy after all" Chloe joked remembering Beca's words a few weeks ago when they were in Atlanta. The brunette came shortly after "Hey, you were fast!"

"I got told to hurry" she winked and leaned to kiss her wife "So, somebody's drunk yet?"

After dinner, they all went to the hotel's disco and danced for hours until they got tired and went back to their suites. Beca and Chloe thanked the nanny and closed the door of their suite after the nanny left, and then went to their children's bedroom. The three children shared a king size bed with children's protective barriers in the sides. Micah was in one side with the sheets by the neck, laying face down hugging his pillow with the mouth slightly open. Beth was in the other side laying on her back very stirred, and Kammy was between the two, cuddled against her sister in a ball. The mothers smiled staring at them, and kissed them softly before heading to their bedroom right next to the children's one, changing and getting into bed. Chloe laid on her back with Beca hugging her, and stroke the brunette's hair absentmindedly as they closed their eyes.

"Don't you sometimes stop you know, and think? Doesn't it seems like a dream, all of our lives, all we've been through?" Beca whispered in the dark.

"Yeah, you're right" Chloe nodded against the shorter girl's head.

"But we signed for more. By getting married, we signed for a lifetime of problems, dramas, tragedies, romances, fun, bad jokes, laughs, entertainment, bore, fights, kisses, hugs, dances, singing..."

"Are you having any second thoughts?"

"No. No, no, no. It's just" Beca supported in Chloe's chest to elevate her head and look at Chloe's eyes, that opened. Beca was smiling in the dark, illuminated by the moon light "I'm glad I have you by my side through all of that. That you chose me as your partner. Forever." Chloe smiled.

"I'm glad I did too" Chloe used the hand she had on her wife's head to pull her in for a kiss "I'm head over heels in love with you Mitchell."

"After all this time?" Beca smiled kissing her again.

"Always."

Next day, the Mitchells decided to visit on their own the biggest shopping center there, because the others had made other plans, each family wanted something different and only some of them got together in one same thing, so just for the morning, they decided to split up and the Mitchells went shopping. The children needed some new clothes, Beca wanted an Italian shirt for her meetings, and Chloe was just looking.

"Okay, maybe I should go with Micah see if we can find him a little something, you do the girly part?" Beca asked Chloe when they went into the place.

"Yeah, sure" Chloe grinned and kissed her "see you by the fountain in half an hour!"

"Half an hour" Beca giggled holding her son's hand while they walked to the sports shop to buy the kid a new pair of sneakers "we'll be there in twenty."

After settling with a good pair, and then going and buying him a new jacket, because his was starting to be too small for him, they went to one of those good shops full of suits, good shirts, and other expensive material for adults to dress nicely. Beca had meetings at least once per week, and when she came back to work someday she wanted to look reborn somehow.

"I like how that one fits you" Micah smiled at her sweetly while they were on the fitting rooms.

"Really?" Beca smiled satisfied looking at the young toddler first and then to the mirror "you just wanna go to the toy store, don't you?" she grinned at the boy, who nodded with a tiny embarrassed smile.

"But that one still fits!" he defended. Beca smiled and decided for a shirt. They were on their way to the fountain very shortly after, and after joining the others, they took the children to the play store.

"Look those dorks!" Chloe laughed as the couple stood looking at the children run to a bunch of animal teddies. Kammy was hugging a huge bear, Beth was pointing the cuteness of a giraffe, and Micah had found a giant crocodile and was playing with it "I'm joining. Kids, have you seen the dolphin?!" she ran taking a huge dolphin from a shelve and _biting_ Kammy's little nose. Beca laughed and took a photo of them with her canon she brought everywhere around their travels.

"Momma look at this!" Beth giggled taking an elephant "It's an _illyphant_!"

"An elephant sweetheart, of course!" Beca chuckled going towards her and admiring the teddy. Chloe and the two others were playing with the crocodile and Beca took Beth, who was still holding the elephant, in her arms and kissed repeatedly her cheek.

"Momma who's cutter, the elephant or me?" Beth asked giggling enjoying the kissing.

"You kiddin'?" Beca opened her eyes and mouth a lot exaggerating making Beth laugh "you my queen, of course!" Beca smiled and cuddled her daughter kissing her cheek. Chloe smiled looking at them from a bit farther away while playing with Micah and Kamara, and took a picture with her phone, showing Beth supported on Beca's hip hugging her while being careful with the canon and enjoying her mother's kisses.

They didn't bought toys because they had little space left in their suitcases with the new clothes and enough suitcases they were carrying to want to buy anymore else, so they finished playing and went to join the others for lunch.

They had already been in _Agrigento_ , went in kayak, done routes with horses, and now that they only had around eleven days left there, they wanted to go to _Etnaland_ aqua park too, that afternoon. All the children were from ages between the year and a half that had Dennis, the youngest, and the good seven years that the twins, the eldest of the children, had, and most of them had or two years old or were about to turn them, so it was a place they thought everyone would like and the parents didn't mind staying in land with the kids that didn't want to go on certain attractions because it was obvious one or two year olds wouldn't want to do certain things, probably most of them would just prefer to stay with the adults most of the time, but the elders would enjoy it a lot, so there was a problem with that.

"Ready for the park kids?" Jesse asked excitedly as they waited for their food to come. Most of them yelled in excitement and the babies just pretended not to hear a thing, too busy bouncing on their parent's lap.

"Daddy can I go on the _Fiume Lento_?" he said spelling it not it a very Italian way showing his dad a picture from the catalog they had.

"Sure Danny" Jesse smiled nodding. Aubrey took a peek and nodded too, wanting to know where they son was going to go.

They went there shortly after, and the whole group wrote a tour down so they knew what each kid wanted to do, and the things the adults wanted to do too, and divided according to what everyone wanted to do. That's how the Swansons, the Mitchells, Flo and Leo, ended up in the Crocodile Rapids, then all the children spent some time in _miniland_ , a part of the park made especially for kids, with smaller attractions, Beca and other adults went to the Dark Kamikaze, and in short, all of them enjoyed many attractions, and when it all ended, they decided to finish the afternoon altogether in the beach, in a more relaxing way. Beca, Kammy, Cathy and Kammy were currently building a sand castle, and Beca was very carefully making a lake on the front of it that would fill with the water from the sea. Many children were with most of the adults in the water, and other adults and children were in the kind of settlement they had altogether created in the sand, putting all the towels, umbrellas, chairs and even a small table together. Chloe had a top on and was drinking a Caipirinha with a few other adults sitting on their towels chatting under the big ceiling of umbrellas they had created, while some of the youngest children sat playing with their beach toys close by, but most of the children were on the water. Beca and Micah had been in the water too, but then Micah started building a castle on his own, and Cathy went out of the little umbrella camp where she was with Aubrey and helped Micah, and then Kammy, that was with Chloe, had gone too and Beca had joined them.

"You think we could make a tiny balcony here aunty?" Cathy was asking Beca.

"Sure honey, take very wet sand for that" Beca smiled at the kid and continued excavating a tiny lake with Kamara.

"For being such a perfectionist, she's very complying with the children" Flo commented, drinking with Chloe, Aubrey, Cynthia, Ashley, Grace and Emily sitting on the towels. They had bathed earlier in the sea, but now they were too tired.

"Yeah" Chloe nodded staring at her wife in delight. Beth was with the rest of the group in the water, so she could relax and just watch the ones building a castle "she's always the most patient and complying with the ones she loves the most, and of course, children." Beca had finished the lake and was sitting beside the kids looking intently at their work. She had her hair in a wet and messy bum, and a cap, and had tons of sunscreen on her body because she could become a crab in seconds.

"So you two are doing much better lately, uh?" Ashley asked and Chloe nodded fervently.

"We still have some downs sometimes, and she still refuses to do any work-related stuff, but it's very good, and we get our asses out of any sudden sadness pretty quickly" she explained.

"I thought she refused to work to spend time with the family" Aubrey commented confused.

"Yeah, but she also can't. Like literally, the last days she was working, she could spend half an hour just staring at her computer or the piano waiting for her mind to clear enough to have ideas, or remember songs to mix together, or have enough concentration, even working while we were all taking a nap. She did used to do mixes sometimes as a method of evasion from stress or whatever, she has always done it too, not only when she was fine, but she told me this time she can't use it as a method of evasion or relaxation because her mind blocks and she can't create any music." Chloe explained "I'm going back to work in September thought, but I doubt she is."

"But isn't therapy or you enough to talk about things so her mind is clear enough to work or simply sit and do music for pleasure? Right now she seems so relaxed" Grace commented looking at the brunette.

"I asked, but she said is not always because she has too much on her mind, sometimes she's perfectly relaxed and still she sits and any idea comes, she gets too frustrated too fast when a mix isn't as good as she wants, things like that. Her therapist thought she just needed to stop trying for a while and take a vacation. It's like writers' block I guess." The others nodding and they smiled when Cathy giggled throwing a ball of sand to the ocean "I wanna give Beca one last baby." She said suddenly. It was a thought that didn't mean to be voiced out, but her lips had a mind of their own.

"Really?" Aubrey smiled and Chloe nodded grinning.

"I should be almost five months pregnant. We should be picking names, explaining the children, trying to satisfy my cramps, but instead, we have any of it. And she wants just one more so bad, and I do too, and plus, I kind of owe her one" Chloe said.

"Did you tell her you definitely want one?" Emily asked.

"I didn't, not in a definite, firm way at least. We haven't even talked about when or how would we want to have another again, but I had a small idea" Chloe giggled "I'm giving her a surprise for her birthday, not gonna get pregnant on my own or anything, it's just a little something. I can't say a thing, but she'll love it, I think."


	7. Chapter 7

_So today I bring you guys something new! Since many times you ask me stuff in reviews that I can't answer until next chapter if they are anons, I've decided to create my own ask account, where I accept prompts, questions, suggestions, commentaries, and all kinds of things you guys want to tell me._ _ **In ASK I'm /JULESINNEVERLAND**_ _(you don't have to register) and you can also find me in_ _ **TUMBLR in JUSTAPOINTINTHEBECHLOE**_ _and send me messages, and see all the updates and commentaries about my fics, aswell as all kinds of bechloe, pitch perfect, and sendrick content I find, and suggest prompts._

 _This chapter is cheesy and +18. Also, shout out to Jake for still being in contact with me, to Mila for entertaining me, helping me, being an awesome friend, and for all you do. And last but not for that less important, another shout out to my favorite girl in the world, the one who owns my heart, and who day after day inspires me to be the best version of myself, helps me in ways nobody can, and does so much for me I can't even express it. Thanks to you my life has some more sense, my laughs are something frequent, my days shine brighter, and my life values more to me. I hope I'm at least as good to you as you are to me._

 _And of course, thanks to all those reviews and buddies out there who make sure to bring so much into my life, my stories, and who stand by me so much I do remember many of their names. If I had more time today, I would put an entire list mentioning all the names of you I remember, but really need to get this chapter out right now or you won't have it until Sunday night_ _I LOVE YOU ALL!_

 **Chapter 7: The point of no return.**

August, 9th, woke up to be a sunny day in Palermo, Sicily, were they were currently staying. Chloe had planned everything with the children the day before while Beca showered, so she wasn't surprised when the children woke them very early singing _Happy Birthday_ with their beautiful voices, even if Kammy wasn't talking much yet, but she made them company equally. Beca smiled softening when the kids sang -she had woken up stressed thinking something was wrong- and hugged the children in bed.

"Happy birthday momma!" Beth said again as the three kids hugged Beca, and Chloe hugged all of them.

"Happy birthday love" Chloe smiled kissing Beca.

"Thank you all so much my beautiful perfect family" Beca grinned and Kammy gave her an envelope "This is for me?" Kammy nodded "Thank you!" Beca opened the envelop excitedly.

"It's from the three of us" Micah added as Beca pulled out three drawings drawn in a special paper that was a bit like carton, so it wouldn't blend easily, and Beca smiled widely. There was Beth drawing, their family with pets included in their living-dining room back home, it was the closest to reality of the three drawings; Micah's drawing was of Beca and him playing the piano, and was full of adorns and music notes; Kammy's drawing was the most abstract, and it was a big rainbow with a sun and a little house underneath that Beca imagined was theirs because it looked very alike.

"I love them!" Beca grinned, feeling incapable of not smiling "They're all awesome! We're gonna save them very carefully and have them framed and in the wall when we get home, alright?"

"Yey!" the kids were excited.

"I love you so much kiddos, thank you! Come, come!" she gave them all a huge hug again and kissed their heads and faces repeatedly happily "It's a pleasure to grow old like this!"

"Mamma, did you give her your present yet?" Beth asked Chloe grinning.

"No sweetie, I'll do it tonight. It's a big surprise and we'll tell you about it tomorrow morning, all right?" Beth nodded and Chloe smiled caressing her cheek.

During the day, the five Mitchell went to do all things Beca liked; rifting, musical events around Sicily, and just hanging together eating ice cream, and when the night started to come, the children all had dinner early and went to bed just like they have done most of the holidays -because the thirty four of them didn't fit in one table, so they just hung around while the children ate and then tuck them to bed and went to bed afterward leaving the children with a nanny for a couple hours- and then the adults joined together to have birthday dinner. After dinner, the waitresses brought a giant chocolate cake -they'll save cake for the kids of course- with thirty three candles, because they loved the challenge. It had been decorated by the Mitchell children with colored chocolate powder, and they had made drawings with different kinds of syrup.

"Okay, don't forget to make a wish" Chloe reminded Beca as she brought the cake closer to the brunette to blow the candles. Jesse was making the photos that day. Beca smiled and nodded, closing her eyes, and then after some seconds to think the wish, she took a deep inhalation and blew with all her lungs, blowing all the candles at once, and they applauded "Yey!"

"How badass of me, uh?" Beca joked happily. They cut the cake and ate a little piece each because they were already pretty full with dinner, and then handed their presents. After enjoying each present, Beca smiled at Chlo "Come on, give me yours."

Chloe grinned and went to her purse, unusually big that day, and got a big rectangular and not very depth package wrapped in gift paper. Beca took it and weighted it giving her wife an inquiring look.

"A book, Chlo?" she asked with a slight tone of surprise and a tiny smile. Chloe shrugged and grinned.

"Open it" Chloe commanded "come on!" Beca removed the wrapping and found a binder, frowning a bit throwing Chloe another inquiring look. Everyone was looking intently "Come on, open it! Read the first page."

Beca opened it carefully and found in the first page a huge photo of them on their wedding day and then a letter underneath. Beca grinned looking at Chloe and then cleared her throat to read.

" _My dearest Beca: When I first met you, you were just a badass eighteen year old and I was in my early twenties, never imagining I would get to know you more, enjoy everything about you, get to love you, marry you, and have wonderful children with you. When I look back, I realize it was crazy of me to burst into your shower, but I count it as the best decision of my life, not because I got to see you nude for the first time -and yes Bec, of course I looked- but because that's the day that made our amazing future together possible, even if I'm convinced we are so meant to be if it wasn't with that, we would've found another way to get together anyway. I remember it as the day my whole life and future changed._ " Beca grinned looking at Chloe for a moment, her eyes watery, and Chloe smiled back " _I could have never imagined our lives will get us to where they did, and I never imagined that the day I'll come back to you after months without seeing each other would be for such a horrible reason, but I'm glad I was there, and, even though it's bizarre, I'm glad we got together out of that terrible time of your life, and that we've always stuck together ever since, no matter what. Now that years have passed, I can swear if I had to do it all over again, I would. When we met, we were both so young, and now here we are, sixteen years later, and I'm so happy to be here to celebrate with you because years ago I got to doubt if you'll get to be thirty three, or if I'd get to be there with you. Months ago, I had times when I even thought whether we would get to keep being together and get to be a happy family again or not. But we did, because years ago we got married, and we made each other big promises like to always love each other no matter what, and that is worth everything._ " Beca stopped to clean an eye with a finger giggling nervously, and Chloe bit her tongue smiling _"Nevertheless, I'm not as perfect as I'd like, and I made my mistakes, and hurt you in ways I'll never be sorry enough. I recognize I kind of played with your feelings without even realizing, but you proved me I was wrong, and showed me the right path to take. So my gift to you tonight is a promise of more adventures together, because I'll stick with you forever. It's a promise of a tomorrow, no matter what. I'm sick of planning things for 'someday' when we know how happy they'll make us, so why don't just have them now? I hope this makes you happy. You can turn the page now, before you say a thing. I love you. Chloe._ " Beca shook her head smiling at Chloe.

"Don't kiss me and turn the page, come on!" Chloe encouraged excitedly, sniffling a little herself, and giggled.

Beca bit her lip and turned the page with trembling fingers. At first she was bewildered and frowned a bit, but as realization and understanding came to her mind, she sniffled and bit her lip trying to keep it together with watery eyes. In front of her eyes were five or six pages with a couple of men profiles per face of the paper, usually pictures of men that looked a lot like Chloe, and the last pages were men that looked a lot like Beca, and Beca knew what that was about because it was the fourth time she had seen herself in front of archives like that, in fact some men were familiar to her eyes. She looked at Chloe grinning.

"Chlo..." she didn't even knew where to begging with and smiled shaking her head.

"I know we haven't decided who's carrying, but I think you should do it, and so, I just picked the best men that looked like me, and also some that looked like you because I love Micah and it would be great too if you wanted another little brunette around instead of some weird mix" Chloe rambled and grinned "I just... I love you so much Bec, and this is really what we want, this could really make us happy, so why not? Why delay it anymore? Delaying won't make us forget about the baby we lost, will only rest time to be with the new Mitchell, and we want one, the kids want one, so why not?" she shrugged and Beca just took her by the cheeks and gave her a passionate kiss crashing their lips together. In the table they were either tearing or just looking at them with sweet smiled. Beca moved her hands to throw her arms around Chloe's neck and deep the kiss and Chloe put her hands on Beca's back stroking her softly as they kissed passionately. Then Chloe pulled apart and kept their foreheads together "Are we having a baby then?"

"We are having a baby" Beca nodded grinning widely and gave her a peck before bursting into laughter "and this is the most original gift I've ever gotten. Seriously Chlo, a fucking sperm donors' catalog!" she laughed and crashed her lips against Chloe again.

After dinner, Beca and Chloe arrived their suite tired but really happy, holding hands and smiled, and went to bed. After some time in bed, Chloe rolled to face Beca's back. The brunette was cuddled on her side, and Chloe moved her left hand to Beca's hip, stroking there with her thumb, and then ever so slowly, moved the hand up over her side, passing it over her elbow, the skin there, up to her shoulder, and then moved the hair back to have easy access to her shoulder and neck. Beca was asleep, so Chloe was really tempted, and bit her lip as she moved her hand down again leaving it over Beca's belly and attracting herself to Beca's back, hugging her with one arm, laying her head over her other arm blended under it, and pressing her chest to Beca's back. Slowly, she approached Beca's shoulder with her nose, and pressed it there smelling her scent, before kissing her in the exposed skin she could find, very softly. Then she trailed her lips over Beca's neck, until she kissed behind her ear. She deepened her kisses, pressing a bit with her teeth on her neck and getting the hand under the t-shirt stroking Beca's belly. She noticed Beca's breath change and then a moan, and giggled against Beca's neck.

"Evil" Beca whispered with rasping voice. Chloe said nothing and limited to crash her lips against the soft skin again, moving her hand up Beca's abdomen to her breast, taking one and caressing it with her entire hand, earning another moan. Chloe felt herself on fire, wanting to hear more of those moans, and pinched Beca's nipple gently. Beca then rolled to face her with a confused look "You need to stop. You're not ready."

"I'm not ready to _be_ touched, but I want to touch you" Chloe kissed her on the lips "Take it as another gift."

"Chlo..." Chloe moved her hand to the front and pinched one of Beca's erect nipples with her fingers, earning yet another moan.

"Three months without sex Bec" Chloe reminded her with a raspy whisper "did you touch yourself?"

"No" Beca closed her eyes enjoying her touch.

"No? Not even once?" Chloe provoked kissing her again.

"Never..."

"That deserves an award, right?" Chloe smiled and pushed her to lay on her back, sitting on Beca's hips and leaning to kiss her with both hands on her breast "You can't make noise, the kids are sleeping behind this wall." She reminded the brunette and took her t-shirt off, trapping a nipple between her teeth softly. Beca shut her eyes close and arched her back.

"Damn Chlo, I'm so close..."

"Already?"

"Three months Chlo" Beca reminded her between gritted teeth and Chloe giggled against her sensitive nipples, making Beca make a muffled moan between her teeth "Hurry!"

Chloe decided to be nice and got Beca's wet panties away, putting Beca's legs over her shoulders and leaning to kiss her swollen nub.

"You're so wet, I'm gonna have to leave you on your own for months more often" Chloe teased passing three fingers between Beca's folds temptingly, and Beca gave another muffled moan, clenching her teeth and closing her eyes harder, moving her hips forward. Chloe teased the entrance with her fingers and then very suddenly got the three of them into the brunette, who moaned between gritted teeth and tightened her legs around Chloe's head, pressing her harder as the ginger licked her folds and then sucked her clit as she pumped into her with her three fingers very fast, and Beca lasted about twenty seconds before cumming hard pressing a pillow against her face "I love you" Chloe said minutes later as they hugged in bed.

"I love you more" Beca whispered half asleep kissing her "Best birthday ever."

In the morning, the two mothers waited until after breakfast to get their children together in their suite's tiny living and sat all together in the couch.

"Kids, there's something your mamma and I would like to discuss with you" Beca started.

"Would you be happy if you had another little brother or sister?" Chloe asked.

"You mean another baby sibling?" Beth asked.

"Like Kammy?" Micah asked.

"Yeah" Chloe nodded and gave them a tiny smile "A little sibling, your last sibling may I add, to play with, talk with... you know."

"And you'll be an older sister Kammy" Beca added smiling at her adoptive daughter, who looked at her "Would that be good for you guys?"

"Mmm... I'm used to Micah and Kammy and I like them... I guess it would be nice!" Beth grinned.

"Yeah, and maybe he or she will like trucks!" added Micah enthusiastically.

"Cool!" Chloe smiled.

"What about you baby?" Beca stroke Kammy's arm "Would you like to have a little sibling? It wouldn't be an immediate thing, it would take a bunch of months, so you'd have time to get used to the idea..."

"Okay" Kammy smiled and nodded. Beca grinned widely happy to hear that beautiful voice of hers.

"Then it's decided" Chloe smiled at Beca.

"Are we having a sibling?" Beth asked.

"Not yet sweetheart" Chloe replied stroking her cheek.

"Your mamma and I are planning on trying to have a baby again, see if it works this time" Beca explained "we wanted to make sure you were still happy with that idea before starting the process."

"Yay!" Micah grinned "Could you make it to like trucks this time?"

"We'll see what we can do baby" Chloe chuckled kissing his cheek.

When they got back to Norfolk, Beca started going through her present trying to choose the right donor, and it was her choice because Chloe had already chosen the ones that she wanted and those were the ones that were in Beca's gift.

"So I'm getting pregnant, right?" Beca asked one night laying on the couch after they tucked their children into bed, with the binder on her knees and her feet on Chloe's thighs as the ginger massaged them while watching a movie.

"Only if you want that" Chloe replied.

"Well you don't want that right?"

"No, I don't feel... I don't feel safe about that, or good. And it's okay, with me there'll be a fifty percent less of possibilities to get pregnant, and even less for the pregnancy to go smoothly" Chloe replied looking at her.

"All right" Beca nodded biting her nail as she looked through the pages "Then okay, I'm doing it. So, with Beth, we got a donor that looked like me so she was somehow in between, even thought the only thing she has that looks slightly like the donor or me is the face shape in any case... and with Micah, the donor was ginger and very you and that only got Micah's hair and eyes to be slightly less darker than mines, and he doesn't seem like he's going to be a short guy either, so I guess the donor doesn't seem to have much power with our genes, uh?" Chloe chuckled "Okay, how do we want the donor to be, like you, like me, something in between? What is the in between for us, a blond? There aren't blonds here..."

"I would be happy with someone just like you so the baby would be even more you than Micah if that's possible" Chloe stroked her knee.

"Come on Chlo, Micah's creepy enough... no, I'm definitely going for a ginger donor if you agree with me" Beca smiled at her using a hand to stroke the hand the ginger had on Beca's knee.

"Sure" Chloe grinned nodding "I only went for sperm donors that had good jobs or studies at least, that were handsome and athletic, there are some that use glasses, but not so much because I don't want to purposely make a baby have bad vision but if the guys are great, then their eyes are the smaller problems so why not? And I love all of them, the one we used with Micah is there too, so you can choose whoever you want."

"If we used the same donor we used with Micah, he and the newborn would be biologically hundred percent siblings. Kind of crazy maybe?"

"Not at all, the newborn would probably like trucks!" Chloe laughed "plus, if any of them ever needed to have a donation, their sibling could more likely provide it right? And Micah is the most perfect boy, the man does good kids."

"All right, then we use his eggs" Beca smiled closing the blinder and leaving it aside "Come here." Beca reached Chloe by the cheeks and kissed her deeply.

It was the morning, Chloe was catching up with school on her laptop sitting on the lunch table in their living-dining room, Beca was cuddled in the couch next to her on her own laptop secretly trying to create music, Beth was grumpy because she woke up too early by herself and she hadn't been able to fall asleep again, and was sitting in the ground playing with dolls, Kamara was on Chloe's lap drinking her baby bottle, and Micah was playing with a toy train around the floor. Everyone was feeling mostly tired after their great vacation too. Beca hadn't wanted to tell anybody she was trying to create her first song on weeks, using _The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)_ , a song she was transforming a bit into kind of a remix just like she did with _Flashlight_ when she still worked in _Residual Records_.

"Okay family, stop whatever you're doing" Beca commanded when she was satisfied, getting up, putting her laptop open on the couch and unplugging her earphones "I've done something, it's just me trying to create something cool, so be nice." She pushed the play bottom and the song started sounding. It wasn't a heavy remix because the song was already pretty lively, but it was a pretty well done alternative version. Micah and Beth were already moving to its beat and Chloe smiled approaching her wife with their youngest daughter between her arms "What do you think?"

"Sounds awesome" Chloe moved her head to the rhythm and singing along " _I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you_..." the elder children were also singing along, or half yelling alone better said. Chloe grinned taking Beca's hand and started dancing with her making sure to support Kammy in her other arm " _But I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more. Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles, to fall down at your door"_ Chloe chuckled enjoying dancing with her wife and children, spinning around, dancing around, and the children yelling the _daradada_ parts of the song in the background.

And maybe it was just a second of happiness.

Or an hour.

Maybe as they danced a thousand suns were being born in the outer space.

But for as long as they were together, they were their own magnificent giant star.


	8. Chapter 8

_Quick reminder you can_ _ **ASK I'm /JULESINNEVERLAND**_ _(you don't have to register) and you can also find me in_ _ **TUMBLR in JUSTAPOINTINTHEBECHLOE**_ _and send me messages, and see all the updates and commentaries about my fics, aswell as all kinds of bechloe, pitch perfect, and sendrick content I find, and suggest prompts._

 _Hey everybody! How are you all doing? The shoutout of the week goes to xcombixgirl because she's the most fierce, loyal reviewer I've ever come across together with others, truth been said, and I try to give you all attention so this week is for her. Thanks girl! And to everybody even if I don't specially mention you, thanks for all the support given. I think you'll like this chapter so, here you have it._

 **Chapter 8: One more step.**

Ending August, children weren't back at school yet, because they were still very young and had a few days at home yet, but Chloe was back at teaching, and for the week being, she was pretty happy to be back at work, and was doing fine. She was only seeing her therapist twice a month, like her wife, and they didn't have couple counseling anymore. Beca wasn't going to work anytime soon, but she was back at creating music, and she was doing come nice stuff for her own, mostly. That morning, she was in her pajamas, enjoying being a stay at home mother for once in her life. She had gotten up at ten, awoken by Beth, and they had danced, played, listened to music, Kammy even got her to do watch _The Little Mermaid_ and not fall asleep, and now Beca had gotten dressed and had Kamara sitting on the counter helping her make lunch while Beth and Micah got the table ready. The Swansons were coming for the weekend, Daniel and Anna had had to miss a couple hours of class to take the plane, but it was all right.

"All right, pepper, miss Kay?" Beca extended her hand and the child passed her the tiny bottle "Cheese?" Beth went to the fridge and gave the cheese to her mother "Well done ladies. Micah, how's the table?"

"Ready!" Micah said enthusiastic "When is mamma coming? Are we picking her up like yesterday?"

"She's coming in shortly time, she's going to pick the Swansons up so we aren't going, and then they're coming here!"

"Aren't they staying in a hotel like always?" Beth asked.

"No, because your mother and I finally got the basement to be a really comfy bedroom, and put a nice big bed there, and then Kammy's sleeping with mamma and I for the weekend and Anna can sleep in her bed, and Daniel can sleep in the spare bed in your brother's bedroom, and Cathy with her parents" Beca explained.

"Nice!" Micah smiled "Momma, are you always going to be home in the mornings with us?" Micah had like five hours of _class_ every day, and Beth six, which meant Chloe, who worked maybe three hours every day, sometimes more, sometimes less, picked them up and was home with them the rest of the morning, or got somebody to pick them up if she couldn't and then she went home a bit later. Beca, on the other side, worked from nine in the morning to one or two in the afternoon, depending on how much work she had, and many days she was home for lunch at noon or if she really had a lot of work, she had lunch at work. She barely worked on the afternoons, except from some certain exceptions that happened once every few months maybe, and she usually spent the afternoons home with the family, and always did everything she could to be free for them in the weekends.

"For a while, I'll be, but it'll only be some days or weeks, Micah. Then I have to go back at work." Beca said finishing the spaghetti.

"Why?" Kammy asked and Beca smiled at her surprised to hear her.

"Because sweetie, I'm a music producer. I love music, I love my work, and I can't be me if I don't have that important part of my life. I also love you guys a lot, that's why I always try to work while you're at school, because I love being with you too." Beca explained.

"It's like mamma, who loves her work so much she's usually grinning when she's going despite being early?" Beth asked.

"Yes baby. What you gotta do as an adult, what you should always get to do, is work at what you love, at your passion, make it possible that you love work so much, it's always nice to go. And of course it's work, it'll have bad days, there'll be moments when you'll get a bit sick of it because you'll feel like being other places or with family, and there'll be days when you'll have to try not to be a workaholic, but that's always better than being at a job you hate." Beca explained finishing in the kitchen and putting Kammy back on the ground.

"Mommy" Kammy hugged Beca's leg "Why mamma work kids?" she asked "We kids."

"You wanna know why mamma works with children if she has three at home?" Beca tried to understand smiling and Kammy nodded "Well babe, mamma loves music a lot too, and she loves teaching and being part of the reason why some little humans get to know so many great things and become great adults one day. She was a teacher before being a mother, she was a teacher before being a wife or a girlfriend, and she's very good at it, and now she loves you so incredibly much, but she still loves her job. Just like I explained your sister, she's lucky enough to have an amazing job she loves."

Kammy nodded and they heard _Billie_ barking as the door opened and they heard some talk and laughing as the Swansons and Chloe entered the home.

"We're here!" Chloe yelled from the lobby.

"Mamma!" Beth and Micah yelled at unison and ran to the door. Beca smiled looking at Kamara who didn't move from the kitchen.

"Don't you wanna go say hi to mamma and the Swansons?" she asked looking at her youngster, who just looked at her extending her arms. Beca chuckled and took her daughter up in her arms, supporting her on her hip and going to the living-dining room at the same time Chloe and the others went there too, and kissed her wife before going to hug Aubrey "Hello new yorkers!" she greeted enthusiastically, hugging Jesse and the twins and giving a kiss on the cheek to Cathy, who was on her father's arms, too.

"Hi!" Jesse smiled at her "How's it going?"

"Great" Beca smiled. From her arms, Kammy had greeted everyone too, and now she extended her arms to Chloe while the ginger woman took her from Beca's arms "How was the flight?"

"Boring" Anna replied, the family following the Mitchells to the basement as they spoke "Aunty Bec, you won't believe how long we had to wait at the airport!"

"Yeah, there was some kind of problem before they let us board" Aubrey explained "they held us back for an hour."

"Really?" Beca rose her eyebrows jumping the last couple steps "That's not nice. Well, in another topic, what do you think?" They stood in front of the room. It was a medium room with bricks lining, the stairs had a wooden banister, a wooden floor, then there was a rug covering most of the room with a big bed on it, a couple of nightstands with lamps, a closet, a drawer, an armchair in a corner, some shelves, and some paintings covering the walls.

"It's really nice" Aubrey nodded with her lips curved into a smile.

"Yeah, I like it" Jesse crossed his arms over his chest and nodded.

"Is this our room?" Daniel asked.

"No Danny, this is mom and mine's room, you'll sleep with Micah and Cathy with Beth, and Cathy and Kammy with their respective parents" Jesse replied stroking his hair.

Jesse had become a thirty two -he turned thirty three in October- years old man not very different from his twenty something years old self. He was still tall, thin, and fit, only that maybe he had a bit more of belly. His hair was still brown and short, some little gray hairs could be seen randomly around his hair, but weren't a lot. He had grown a good beard, that he wore perfectly cut and presentable, he had some bags under his eyes too, product of raising two twins and now having an almost two years old daughter, plus working late. He dressed more mature and more adult like too, but they all did really. Aubrey was still as tall as always, and even if she stayed fit and had recovered a good part of her body after going through two pregnancies, she was less thin than how she used to be, but not fat. Her breasts were bigger too, so it was the normal thing after all. She would be thirty six in just a few weeks, but you couldn't say she was older than Jesse if you didn't know. Maybe it was the make up, but except from some bags under her eyes and the fact that the facial expression lines were more visible, she had barely gotten older. Her hair was still blonde, and if she had some gray hair it was hard to notice because her hair wasn't dark for it to contrast much, and she had it shorter, just a bit lower than her shoulders. Daniel was a tall boy, with the proper complexion for a seven year old, he had wavy light brown hair, a cute nose that reminded of Aubrey, very milky skin, his eyes were something between brown and gray, and his expressions reminded of Jesse. Anna was a lot like her brother, only that she was more like her mother in expression, face shape, well her lips were her father's, but she was mostly like her mother. Her hair was wavy and long. And then Cathy, she was a chubby toddler, her eyes brown and her hair light brown, wavy and short to her shoulders, and she reminded of Aubrey a lot.

About the Mitchells, they had Kamara, dark skin, dark eyes, and dark curly short hair usually upsweep. She was chubby and small, like any kid her age. Micah was of course a lot like Beca, maybe he had some things that where lighter or slightly different, but was mostly Beca. And Beth was just like Chloe, although her eyes were slightly darker. Chloe was the same Chloe of always, she now had her hair cut at shoulder's length, and she looked more drained and like she had lived much more things than when she was in her twenties, and was less thin, but she hadn't major changes. And Beca was just like she was with eighteen years old, only less thin, also looking more drained but also happier, with much less make up and or less piercings or she wore the ones that were more adult like, or small. She had the same hair she always had, she had some gray hairs she found from time to time, like Chloe, but again, hers where harder to hide due to her hair color. She also had new tattoos she hadn't when she was younger. With Chloe they had tattooed three little butterflies on the external side of one of their feet, just below their ankles, in honor of Beth when she was born. She had a moon on the back of her neck she got some months after the first anniversary of her family's deaths, and on her other ankle, she had a little oak in autumn -with almost any leafs- that symbolized family, because of its resemblance to a family tree, and strength, because many antique civilizations considered it a symbol of strength.

The ten of them had lunch and then got into their bathing suits and to the pool, and played volleyball in the water for a while. When they got tired, the adults went to sit on the towels, and the children ran with Billie around the garden playing with water pistols.

"I forgot to ask" Beca remembered while they watched the kids, looking at Chloe "How was work today?"

"It was pretty good" Chloe replied satisfied "there are a few nine year olds music geniuses!"

"I bet they are" Beca smiled at her.

"I don't get it Becs, you could be back at a job you love if you wanted" Jesse commented.

"I can't, Jesse."

"You keep saying that, but you've been doing some great music lately haven't you? So I think you can go back."

"What if my job doesn't enthusiasts me like it used to do anymore?" Beca whispered then.

"What?" Aubrey frowned "You have your dream job!"

"I know! It is my dream job, but I spent most of the time stuck in my office, or trying to get what the client wants, or sitting in a studio doing the best I can while clients then go like _uhm, I'm not sure..._ and maybe now I prefer being with my family and my children. I'm not saying I'm leaving my work, not in a hundred years, but I just don't want to be there. There, I said it" Beca shrugged and turned to look at the children again.

"It was never about lack of ideas and concentration, was it?" Chloe asked in a whisper.

"It was, for a while. And I got so happy when I got my touch back, but then I thought why would I go back? Why would I miss time of being with the ones I love the most to be there? So I stayed, and I can tell you, these days have been heaven" Beca replied.

"But they will have school soon, Beca" Aubrey reminded her.

"I know" Beca nodded "When they go back, I guess I will go back, but I think I'm gonna change my schedule and make it the same the children have, so I can always be here when they're here, and pick them from school, and all those things. I'm the boss, and I spend more time there than anyone, and they can do it perfectly well without having me always there, they've proven it for the past three months and a half."

"Don't" Chloe smiled a bit "just remember that with a little bit of luck, you'll be pregnant soon, and in four months or so you'll have the perfect excuse to stay at home more."

"Oh, right" Beca nodded kissing her.

"So how's the pregnancy thing going?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, have you guys started it yet?" Aubrey added.

"I had a billion of tests at the hospital a couple weeks ago to make sure everything was fine and it is" Beca explained "We also have a donor chosen, and maybe we can start trying around the end of September."

"Nice" Jesse curved his lips into a smile.

After the pool, they had dinner and put the children to bed, the adults following soon after. Beca reached the bed to find her youngest daughter on her side of the bed, and managed to push her a bit to the middle of the bed and lied down on her side with an arm over their sleeping one year old smiling at Chloe, who did the same facing her.

"So we're having a guest this weekend, uh?" Beca joked stroking Kamara's chin softly.

"If we're betting, I'd say a week. Remember how fast she gets used and comfortable" Chloe grinned leaning to kiss Beca "Good night sweetheart."

"See you in my dreams" sang Beca happily closing her eyes.

"Be careful!" Aubrey yelled the next night to the children, who were busy playing hide and seek around the house while they made dinner after spending the day at the park just having fun "And don't run around the stairs!" she added, before reentering the kitchen where Jesse was sitting in the island distractedly reading the newspaper, Chloe was cooking, and Beca was talking to them both "This kids are like tornadoes when they get together."

"Yeah, and the fact that they still have energies left it's astonishing" Beca added nodding.

"Kai will fall in bed soon anyway" Chloe commented "she's just awake because is not every day that Dan, Anna and Cathy are around."

"I hope so" Beca replied. Then they heard a loud noise of things falling and they ran to the living-dinning room imagining children bleeding on the floor or something but they saw something quite different. Danny, Anna and Micah were standing in the entry of the room, looking scared. Kammy was knelt on the couch with Cathy, and all of the kids where looking in the same direction to Beth, who was standing looking scared as shit to a broken laptop in the floor. She seemed to have ran into a small bookshelf where Beca's laptop was among with other stuff and now, the laptop lied on the floor, the screen broken and scratched separated from the rest of the laptop, who was also broken, and they were surrounded by the bookshelf that lied on the floor and some books, a couple of framed pictures whose frames had broken, and other things, fortunately most of them weren't things that could easily break "Oh my..." Beca stood in front of her eldest daughter and the mess speechless, her eyes fixed on the laptop her brother had given her when she was seventeen for her birthday, the same laptop she had had for over sixteen years, taken care of it better than of her, the same laptop she had always refused to change or let it to anybody but Chloe and with her supervision, the same laptop she put no food or drinks close to, that had any scratch and that was always shinning of how clean it was, the laptop she worked with instead of the luxurious and new computers at her job building, her treasure that had become even a greater treasure after her brother's death. And now it was in pieces on her feet.

"Bec" Chloe whispered looking at the mess. No one in the room dared to move.

"Momma, I'm so sorry, I swear it was an accident" Beth seemed about to cry looking at her mother "I'm sorry."

"Kids, go play in the bedrooms while we fix this, okay?" Chloe said smiling encouragingly at the children, who obeyed.

"There's nothing to fix Chlo" Beca whispered finally "We can buy new frames, but these aren't worth trying to repair. And the laptop..." she shook her head and knelt gulping a lump on her throat taking the laptop's pieces. The laptop was too old and fragile, it wasn't even fabricated anymore, let alone have pieces to substitute the ones broken. She managed to look at Beth, who stood scared looking at her "Did you hurt yourself Beth?" she asked after gulping again, her voice low to avoid start screaming like she was dying to do. The kid nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Beca nodded.

"Go to your bedroom Beth. We'll tell you when it's dinner time." Beca commanded and the kid ran upstairs "Guys, can you help me put the bookshelf in its place?"

Jesse and Chloe went and help her while Aubrey started picking books from the floor and putting them back in the bookshelf. Chloe then started taking the photos and the glass pieces, throwing the last ones away, and Jesse helped with the other things in the floor. Beca took carefully each piece of her laptop and sat in the couch examining it until she confirmed it really had no fixing possible. She huffed and looked up at Chloe.

"What frames did she broke?" she asked.

"The ones that had our wedding photo, some of the kids, your brother's photo..." Chloe shrugged with the pictures on her hands "I'll go tomorrow and buy some new ones."

"Tomorrow's Sunday" Aubrey reminded her.

"Then the next day, I can do it on my way to work first thing in the morning."

"Fine" Beca nodded and went back to unsuccessfully trying to hold the screen and the rest of the laptop together.

"Maybe they can fix it in some good computer shop. If not here, maybe in NYC..." Jesse said sitting beside her.

"No Jesse. This laptop has at least sixteen years old, my brother gave it to me and it was previously his, so it probably has a couple more" Beca said frustrated "It's too old... if I'm lucky I'll have the disk back and maybe I'll be able to recover any important documents, photos, music, works and stuff, maybe a guy from work can do it, but that's it. I'll have to buy another one." Her hands trembled in frustration and rage at her sixth attempt to fix anything and she let the pieces on the small table in front of the couch.

"We'll get you a good new laptop sweetie" Chloe tried to cheer her up "this one was starting to fail and it couldn't have the new programs you needed to work."

"I don't care Chloe" Beca blurted "I'm sorry, but I don't want another, I don't care if it went slow or couldn't have the new and better programs, or failed a bit from time to time. I've had it for sixteen years Chlo, Beth knows how important it is, Beth knows is a birthday gift from my murdered brother, and that if that's not enough, it has an infinite of photos, documents, different archives and stuff that I can't even put a prize to. So all I'm trying to figure out is how our perfectly good, intelligent, almost five year old daughter could be so, freaking, careless!" she ended up rising her voice a bit "She didn't only break this, she broke picture frames, she damaged important books, and other things, and she could have seriously hurt herself too!"

"This things happen Bec, Beth is a toddler, children do this things, it was an accident, even the best kids do this, she didn't mean to" Chloe said softly.

"I know, that's why I can't get mad at her, so I'm trying to keep it inside so I can go make her less scared" Beca passed a hand through her hair and got up, walking upstairs and knocking her daughter's bedroom before opening the room. All of the children were there, and she found Beth sitting in her bed not paying attention to the other kids "Beth, come." The kid did so quite quickly and Beca guided her up to the attic, and they sat in the couch there.

"I'm so sorry momma" the kid said again and Beca nodded.

"You should be. What you've done, despite not doing bad things almost ever, was unforgivable. Still, I forgive you, and your mother does too" Beca said "You were careless, ran around without paying attention, and knocked down an entire bookshelf, causing damage to books, breaking picture frames, breaking completely and irreparably my laptop, and damaging other stuff. And if all of it is only your fault" Beca added, and Beth sniffled. Beca sighed "Elizabeth Sarah Mitchell... you're a good kid. You were named after your awesome grandma, who was an amazing person, and you're a Mitchell, and us Mitchells are often selfish, careless, dumb and clumsy in all levels. But you turned out to be more of a Beale, fortunately, and you are one amazing little girl. What happened... yeah, it's your fault and it's bad, but it's okay, because you need to fail if you want to learn things. You said you're sorry, I know you are and I forgive you, and you only broke some stuff... it's much better than hurting yourself, or seriously hurting somebody, or damaging someone in a non-physical way like I've done thousand times. It's okay to mess things up Beth, you'll do it many times in life and from each you'll learn important stuff. And you need to know when it's your fault or not, and learn, and move on. You failed, you apologized, you've done your part, so move on. Now I'll do mine, and I'll hug you and forgive you because you're my daughter, and I love you, and this is normal children stuff, and you're too good to be true, and we'll go have dinner okay?" Beca said, and after listening, Beth nodded and hugged her tightly. Beca hugged her back.

When they heard a _dinner's ready!_ yell downstairs, Beca took her daughter up in her arms and walked with her downstairs and to the living-dining room, where Chloe welcomed them with kisses before Beca sat Beth in a chair. For once, they had dinner altogether despite being a bit cramped.

"What's gonna happen to your laptop mom?" Beth asked.

"I'll take it to a friend at work on Monday to see if he can recover the archives inside of it, and then I'll throw it away and go buy a new one" Beca replied and Beth frowned.

"You can break something mine too momma, if that makes you feel any better" the child said and Jesse muffled a laugh with his hand.

"Elizabeth Sarah Mitchell!" Beca smiled at her "I'm not breaking anything, even less something yours, that wouldn't make me feel any better! God, you're just like your mamma..." she shook her head grinning.

"Don't worry so much sweetheart" Chloe smiled at her daughter "Adults resolve problems like adults, and we're on it."

"Can we go to the cinema tomorrow?" Cathy asked after a while.

"Sure" Aubrey replied "We could all go, right?"

"Yeah" Chloe smiled enthusiastically "What do you guys want to watch?" and then there was a battle between the new Disney and Pixar movies, each kid wanting a different movies and the adults just looking at them contently.

Children were soon in bed and the adults got comfortable in the couch watching a movie. Beca still hated movies, but she was always up for one if Jesse selected it, because he was the one that got her to enjoy some movies, and sometimes even the ones chosen by, for example, Chloe, were easily enjoyable. This one was a new one whose soundtrack was entirely done by Jesse, but towards half of it, Beca found herself too tired to keep watching it.

"I'm going to bed. Good night" Beca said kissing Chloe on the cheek and getting up, taking the pictures of the broken frames off the coffee table "I'm gonna see if we have any frames free in our room." She added dragging her feet out of the living.

"Good night!" Aubrey wished her, and Jesse just waved at the tiny brunette before she disappeared.

"It's a shame, this was a good laptop" Jesse commented looking at the broken thing on the coffee table.

"She'll get a much better new one" Aubrey whispered in the darkness only illuminated by the TV.

"It won't be Joseph's" Chloe shook her head and sighed "but this had to happen sooner or later with three, one day four, young toddlers around the house. I'm surprised it took this long."

"How are you doing with Noah's thing, by the way?" Aubrey asked.

"I've got bad days, but I'm mostly good" Chloe replied. Her best male friend's death still haunted her sometimes "Guys, I think I'm gonna go to sleep too."

She knocked softly in her door and opened it slowly, but her bed was empty and the duvet was in its place. She diverted her eyes to the light in the other side of the room, coming from a lamp that was next to their couch. There was Beca, her dark blue eyes fixed on a photo album on the coffee table. She was in her pajamas, had dry stains of tears in her face, her eyes were dry, her nose red, and she had an expression that was a mixture of anger and pain as she breathed deeply. Chloe got into the room, closing the door beside her, and walked to Beca, sitting beside her, although the shorter woman didn't even flinch. Cautiously, Chloe put a hand over Beca's thigh, and stroke there with her thumb, looking at the album opened on the coffee table, surrounded by the photos from the living-dining room. The album was one from 1997, when Beca was four and Joseph nine years old, and it contained photographs from the Mitchells and Portland, and at the end of the album there was a time jump to 2016 and there were photos from when Jackie, Joseph's son, was born. They were all dead now. Chloe looked back at Beca and found that her eyes, although they pointed to the table, they weren't really looking anywhere, it was more like they had a lost gaze. Chloe put a hand on Beca's left cheek and pushed her a bit closer to kiss her right cheek lovingly, and the brunette closed her eyes.

"I was trying to find frames" Beca whispered with a raspy voice "They deserve at least good frames from where they can see the world they can't be in."

"I know" Chloe replied kissing her cheek again and stroking the other cheek with her hand softly "Come on, let's go to bed. I promise I'll find them good frames on Monday."

Beca nodded and took Chloe's hand letting her guide her to bed, closing the album on their way there, and then laying there, Chloe spooning Beca and hugging her tight. The brunette was trembling uncontrollably and Chloe knew it wasn't because it was cold -they had the duvet, it was just September, and Beca was raised in a truly cold place and never got bothered by the _what you guys call cold_ time in Norfolk- but because she was trembling in anger and sadness, her eyes shut and Chloe just holding her tight.

"I should've had let her live and suffer in prison forever" Beca whispered suddenly "She got the rest and peace of death, and I get to carry this forever."

"You made sure she never touched your family again, and that you and your people could sleep at night knowing she would never come again" Chloe said kissing her temple "You did what you had to do, and you did good."

"Then why do I keep feeling so angry? It's been eight years, it doesn't make sense."

"Of course it makes sense, a bitch did something that can't be described with horrible because it's more than that, and she hurt you beyond repair sweetie. You're trying, I'm trying, and we are in a better place, but we are allowed to feel terrible by past things and cry, and feel angry, and all of it is normal" Chloe hugged her tighter "You are right in one thing. She got the rest and you get to keep carrying this. But you get a family who loves you and she never had or will have any of it. You'll be okay."

Beca rolled and hugged Chloe tightly, upset, and fell asleep shortly after, with Chloe hugging her back.

Next day, the whole family went to the cinema and later, they played in the garden. They were currently playing a game in the garden where Beca had to go with a scarf covering her eyes trying to catch everyone else as they tried to avoid making noises so she couldn't tell where they were. Aubrey, Beth, Daniel, Jesse and Kamara had already lost to that game and had had to be in the position Beca was in, Kamara had been the one to catch Beca, who had started laughing hysterically very suddenly attracting the kid's attention.

"Momma, you're terrible!" Micah yelled laughing looking at Beca, who had just stumbled with their garden table.

"Wait until I catch you!" Beca smiled feeling her way through the garden with her arms extended in front of her. She had amazing hearing but she had to admit everyone was doing a pretty good job being quiet, and their garden was huge, crashing with the table only helped her know she was in the pool side of the garden, so she walked to the other side thinking they wouldn't be so close to the pool, there wasn't much space there. She heard a giggle close by and threw her arms hugging a little body "Cathy!" she grinned removing the scarf from her eyes and looking at the little kid in her arms.

"You found me!" Cathy said with her hands on her mouth.

"I did!" Beca chuckled "Guys I found a little Swanson!"

"Oh, no!" Daniel face-palmed himself running to them "Is Cathy's turn!" he announced sadly to the others, that came running from their different spots.

"Okay Cathy" Beca put her the scarf and tied it around the girl's eyes, being careful with the light-brown locks of hair "Be careful and don't walk too far all right?" the girl nodded and Beca made her spin a bit before running away. The girl started walking with her arms extended in front of her and a huge smile on her face.

"Come on baby, you've got Mitchells close!" Aubrey encouraged her daughter giggling.

Beth ran away from Cathy giggling when the younger kid almost got her and then Cathy ran and stopped running right in front of Chloe, who was standing giggling between her and the fence, and Beca smiled sideways seeing how the ginger tried to hold her breathing and ended up breaking into laughter as the kid hugged her. Children were Chloe's weakness, just like animals.

Chloe took little time to collide against Jesse as the boy ran to tickle his eldest daughter and didn't notice the ginger running close by and both ended in the grass, laughing hysterically. When it started being cold outside, they moved the party to their living and played _Dance wild!_ A new dancing game it had come out not long ago for _Play Box_ , that was the most recent successor of the old _Wii_. You played it just like the old _Wii_ , but with special mittens and special socks that detected your slightest hand or feet movements, you didn't need any controls for any games -if it was a war game you only needed to move your fingers like if you were pushing a trigger for it to work- and you also had to wear a special sleeveless jacket with whom the machine automatically knew were and how your body was positioned. For other kinds of games that didn't include your own body's intervention, like with some car games, card games, or chess, or anything like it, you could control it by voice with a wireless mic that you could put in your face or if you preferred, there was what Beca liked to call _the wand_ , with which you could just point at the screen like with any other control.

"God Beca your son's moves his hips better than you!" Jesse laughed as they observed. Only four people could play at the same time so know it was Beca, Micah, Anna, and Aubrey's turn. Beca laughed slapping her son's ass softly and playfully.

"That's my boy!" Beca said proudly.

Not long after, it was time for the Swansons to go, so they took Beca and Chloe's cars in order to go with them to the airport and say their goodbyes there, and the whole Mitchell family waved as the other family passed the security control in the airport.

"Next time we see face to face, I'll be pregnant!" Beca yelled smiling at the Swansons, and Aubrey and Jesse looked back smiling, and waved and send flying kisses.

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Alexandra 1493 chapter 7 . Mar 12

OMG! Hi Jules In Neverland.. It's the first time that I read your fics but let me tell you that I love all of them ;) when I saw the little description you left for this fic I thougth why not? I started to read "You make me bulletproof".. Really don't let someone ever think was good cause' IT WAS GREAT! then when I finished I just have to go for "Unnestopable".. Each of your fics have all in it "passion, thriller, happines, etc".. Keep post it please! I'm going to wait until next week. Take care and hope you are doing good at university..  
Regards, Alex.

 **Yay! Thanks a lot Alex for such awesome and kind words, I really appreciate it, and I hope you keep liking so much all my bechloe fanfics. I'm doing fine thanks! I hope you're good too! Regards**

Doubleinfinity chapter 7 . Mar 11

Yey

 **You expressive Macedonian… hahahahaha**


	9. Chapter 9

_Quick reminder you can_ _ **ASK I'm /JULESINNEVERLAND**_ _(you don't have to register) and you can also find me in_ _ **TUMBLR in JUSTAPOINTINTHEBECHLOE**_ _and send me messages, and see all the updates and commentaries about my fics, aswell as all kinds of bechloe, pitch perfect, and sendrick content I find, and suggest prompts._

 _This is a very eventful chapter! Hope you guys like it. Also, I have an exam on Friday and also a few other things to take care of, so I don't know if the next chapters will be on Friday or Saturday. I would put them Thursday, but I have an exam on Friday so it's not a good idea to distract me with this ;)_

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Hopes up.**

On Monday morning, Beca woke up ready to go back to her company building for the first time in several months and after breakfast, stood in front of their en suite bathroom's mirror looking at herself intently. She wanted to look as the strong woman and boss she was, respectable, powerful, pulled together, independent, and important, she didn't want to seem weak to her coworkers or give them any reason to believe things were any less than smoothly, so that day she was particularly nervous and had spent more than she usually did on choosing clothes, make up, hair style and everything else. She wasn't back to work, but she had to go find a friend that was a specialist in everything computer-related and bring him her laptop.

"You're beautiful" Chloe said appearing suddenly hugging Beca from behind and supporting her chin on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"You think?" Beca looked at herself in the mirror again. She was pretty elegant and sophisticated, like a true business woman, with an elegant jacket and everything. It wasn't entirely her style, but she just wanted to look adult, mature, composed.

"You are the most stunningly beautiful human being I know" Chloe nodded matter of factly and spin Beca to kiss her in the lips "I love you."

"I love you more" Beca smiled in the kiss "You look great too, like always." She added pulling back and holding one of Chloe's hands over their heads in the air making Chloe slowly spin like dancing so she could take a better look at the ginger's dress "Awesome." She grinned pulling Chloe close again to kiss her.

"Come on, you will make the kids and I get late to work" Chloe winked and left the room, not without slapping her ass and throwing her a look over her shoulder right before leaving.

Beca arrived her workplace's entryway around ten, after leaving Chloe and the children at work. She was carrying little Kammy with her because she didn't plan on taking too long, and right in that moment she was approaching the receptionist's table with her laptop's bag hung in her shoulder, Kai supported against her hip and kept safe with her arms. She was wearing a black suit jacket, with a dark blue shirt, her hair free, black pants and black boots with short heels.

"Tatiana" she said calling the receptionist's attention, who was in a phone call.

"Oh, Miss Mitchell, boss!" Tatiana smiled getting up and giving her a quick peck on the check and picking Kai's cheeks lovingly "Hello you two! How are you? Are you back at work? Wyatt didn't say a thing the bastard!"

"Good morning, no, no, we are all good, and I'm not back yet. I need to see Garrett, do you know where he is?" she said staring intently at the other woman.

"Yeah, he was called to check an intern's computer in the second floor, Public Relations' Department" she replied, and Beca nodded "do you want me to take care of little Kai while you're there?"

"Would you?" Beca asked and when the receptionist nodded, she handed her the baby not without kissing her little one in the cheek before "Tatiana will take care of you for a bit, okay honey? I'll be back soon and we'll go to the park or something. I'll be here soon baby, I love you. I'll be back in no time okay?" she added finally looking at the other woman.

"Yeah, take all the time you need, we'll be here."

"'Kay" Beca turned to go.

"And Beca!" Beca looked back and the receptionist smiled "It's good to see you! We missed you here!"

"Thanks, it's good to be here too" Beca smiled, waved at her daughter, who was waving at her, and went to the stairs, climbing them quickly. She avoided the elevator to avoid seeing known people, and for the same reason, kept her head down as she walked around the second floor until she finally spot the guy.

Garret Wilkinson was a man in his late thirties who was a specialist in technologies, he was the chief of the Technical Department and he and his department were the ones that had to fix every computer, micro, sound machines, studio equipment and basically every technology on the building when they broke. He was a very thin man, with messy beard, curly and short grayish hair that used to be black, and usually wore plaid shirts rolled up to her elbows and a tie.

"Garret, hey" Beca saluted making him get his eyes off an open CPU and look up at her, smiling instantly.

"Look how's here!" he straightened up and hugged her "Are you back soldier? How are you?"

"I'm fine, you?" she asked back nervously.

"Great! You need to come visit us soon, Alexis is so big!" he said talking about his little one year old.

"I'd love to, but it'll have to wait. Listen, I'm not actually back at work, I just need you to help me out. My daughter, Beth, broke my laptop by accident and well I doubt it can be fixed, but maybe you could get me the disc so I can recover my stuff inside?" she asked. The man nodded thoughtful.

"Let me take a look, come" they got into an empty meeting's room and Beca put her laptop's pieces on the table. He spent several minutes looking intently at it. After a while, he sighed "Is impossible to fix, the pieces we could replace aren't even made these days. But I can take the disc, recover all the information and archives you had, and put them in a CD for you. I'll need a week."

"Awesome" she sighed in relief and hugged him "Thank you so much Garret, I owe you big, I'll pay as much as you want."

"Hey, this one is on me, you already pay me well enough every month without even actually being here. Let me have the laptop's bag so I can have it safely kept" he asked and she handed him the bag "So what are you doing now if not coming back to work?"

"I have Kai waiting for me with Tatiana downstairs, so I think I'll take her to the park, maybe hang out with her for a bit before going to pick her siblings up and Chloe" she replied.

"She's back at work?" he asked sitting on the table.

"Yeah, she's pretty good, it's nice to see her so happy" Beca commented "I will be back soon, okay? Before Wyatt commits suicide or something. I just need some time off, just be with my family, you know..."

"I guess if you lose one, you want to keep the ones you do have as close as possible right?" he shrugged and she nodded "Well, I hope soon means less than a month. Do you wanna... I don't know, see how thing's been going here?"

"I guess it would be the right thing to do uh?" Beca nodded and after he kept the laptop's remain into its bag and hug it in his shoulder, she followed him around for a bit. He showed her the new deals they had, the new amazing ideas the interns had had, some new decoration around, some new songs the company had produced, and told her anecdotes and other fun stuff.

Later, Beca went with Kai to a park.

"Wii!" the kid yelled with her arms in the air as she went down a toboggan on Beca's lap "Again, again!"

"We already did it four times sweetie, don't you wanna try the swings?" Beca said taking the child's hand as she stood up again. Lately Kai was talking much more than ever.

"Okay!" she replied enthusiastically and they went to the swings. After that, Beca took the kid to see the ducks, and they sat in front of the pond, in the grass "Momma?"

"Yeah babe?"

"Are ducks happy?" Beca blinked surprised by the question. After almost five years of being a mother, she had grown used to weird child questions, but this one was a new one.

"I guess they are" she replied "They're all together, with their families and friends, and they have plenty of fishes to eat, and grass, and all the things they like."

"But the water stinks."

"Yeah it does" Beca smiled "I guess it's how they like it. Each living being is how it is honey, we can't change that. Some like roses, other like mud, there's a bit of everything."

The kid nodded sitting between Beca's extended legs looking at the ducks, and Beca stroke her hair softly. It had taken Chloe half an hour to do her hair that morning.

"When I gonna be old sis?" Kai asked.

"When are you gonna be an older sister?" Beca grinned "Ten, eleven months maybe. I honestly don't know, but it won't be for Christmas, that's for sure." Kai got up with a flower in her hand she had taken from the grass, and smiled putting it on Beca's hair "Thanks baby, that's beautiful."

"You're pwetty."

"You're very, very pretty too" Beca pulled her daughter's body against her and kissed her in the cheek "what do you say if we go find your siblings and mamma?"

"Yes!" she jumped and Beca giggled.

"What are you thinking?" Chloe asked. The children were playing in their rooms and Chloe was lying on the couch with her head on Beca's lap, after lunch, while her shorty wife stroke her hair.

"Nothing really" Beca smiled down at her stroking her cheek, and Chloe kissed her palm "You know I always think there's no way I can love you anymore, but then I do?" Chloe giggled with her tongue between her teeth "You're amazing. You're my favorite thing. And I love the new frames you bought, by the way."

"Well, I do love you more than myself" Chloe caressed Beca's chin stroking her lips with her thumb, which Beca kissed "You are the cause of the biggest quantity of amazing stuff that I've lived. You're so special to me Bec."

"I love you" Beca put her elbow on the armrest next to Chloe's head and supported her forehead on her hand looking down at her wife "I think I should go back to work. Wyatt's getting crazy, the public relations people have a thousand events the company should be present in, the interns are starting to become rebels, there are people wanting specifically me to work on their music..."

"I think you're right" Chloe nodded and her lips curved forming a smile "A soldier is always a soldier even when in holiday. You're a musician Bec. You can't not be that, is part of you."

"Yeah, I guess" she shrugged leaning to kiss her.

"When are you going back?" Chloe asked brushing their noses together.

"Tomorrow maybe?" she caressed Chloe's neck kissing her again.

"Sounds good" Chloe kissed her again.

"Mommies?" Beca looked up and Chloe sat up looking around. The three youngest Mitchells were standing looking at them, their faces and clothes full of paint.

"Oh my God, what have you done?" Beca got up approaching them "These aren't your painting clothes!"

"We know momma" Kai pouted looking at her dress, now full of green, yellow and pink paint.

"We just wanted to play and forgot" Micah continued. Chloe approached them too, trying not to laugh.

"We then realized we had gotten all dirty..." Beth looked sad too.

"Is your room dirty too?" Chloe asked.

"Is not very clean but not very dirty?" Beth pouted and Chloe giggled.

"God, they're adorable" Chloe whispered looking at Beca.

"Sure. You get the clothes, I'll clean upstairs and we met in the bath tub" Beca patted her back encouragingly and went upstairs.

Fifteen minutes later all the clothes of the children were in the washing machine and all three of the children were in the bath tub as their mothers sat by it trying to clean them up.

"Don't you dare to pee honey" Chloe reminded Kai, who nodded letting her mom brush the paint away from her arms. The water had had to be changed once already because it filled with multiple colors shortly after putting the kids in -Beca had actually put a photo of the colored water online for her fans under the commentary _Paint loves my kiddos' skin as much as they love it. Also, emergency bath time happened._ She usually never put pictures of her children, and rarely of Chloe, but in this one there was only colored water.- and now Beca was stroking Micah's hair, that somehow had blue paint in it.

"It's a miracle you didn't get it in your eyes" Beca said, both mothers with their sleeves rolled up to their elbows. Beth was sitting in the bath tub playing with the bubbles in the water surface, Kammy was standing between her siblings letting Chloe clean her, and Micah was on the other side sitting looking not so pleased with so much brushing -the pain was hard to remove- but holding on patiently.

"Oh!" Kammy yelped and pointed at Micah's legs.

"What?" Micah asked confused.

"What's that?" the girl asked.

"What is what babe?" Chloe asked lovingly. The girl pointed at Micah's little manhood "Oh, your brother's penis?"

"Why I no have it?" Kammy asked. Micah frowned like if he had just realized he was the only one with a little tail between his legs.

"Because only men have it sweetheart" Chloe replied "Girls have vaginas, but you can't see them because they're inside your body. You'll learn more and better about it when you're older honey."

"I want one of those, not this!" Micah said touching his intimacy "they're uncomfortable to have between the legs, bother me when I take the tricycle, and if they get hit, it's hurts a lot!" Beca and Chloe put effort in not laughing.

"But Micah, you're a boy" Beth said matter of factly "Danny has one too! And cousins Parker, Johnny and Owen, and Chris, Matt, Ewan, Dennis, Mike and Henry." The last six were sons of the Bellas. As it usually happens with young kids, they had bathed in the nude several times, have baths together, or just changed in front of each other.

"I don't want one! Can't I just have what you have?" Micah asked and pouted looking at his mothers "Why do I have to be the only boy here? Couldn't I be a girl?" Beca looked at Chloe, who looked surprised, and then back at her soon, getting him out of the bath tub and putting him his bathrobe on.

"Come little lion, we'll talk a bit okay?" Beca took his son in his arms and up to his bedroom, sitting on the bed with him "Micah, you were born a man. That's not a bad thing, we don't love you any less and we wouldn't change a thing about you, all right? I was actually kind of happy of having a man, your mother and Beth were bringing too much girly stuff into the house."

"It's not a bad thing for you momma, but I don't like being different. If I was a girl, I'd like more of the things my sisters like, we could play more, I wouldn't have to play alone most of the time, princess movies wouldn't bore me so much, I wouldn't have anything between my legs that would sometimes bother me, I could sleep in my sister's company..." he shrugged looking down, upset.

"Baby" Bec stroke her back helplessly, and the door opened slightly. Very silently, Chloe came and sat at the other side of Micah, whispering for Beca that the girls were watching a movie downstairs.

"All right Micah" Chloe smiled gently at the boy "Would you be happier if we bought you dresses and dolls? If we paint your room pink, maybe? or... I don't know, we'll do whatever you want."

"No momma, I like my trucks and dinosaurs and my clothes and my room!" Micah sniffled "I just don't want to be so different from them."

"From your sisters?" Chloe asked rubbing his hair and he nodded.

"Honey" Beca knelt in the floor to look at his face "Hey, don't be upset. It's okay to be different. Look, you don't have to be like them, that's what makes you special to everyone, your differences, the things only you have that they don't, the things you like, everything. Do you see your mamma make mixes, or do you see me doing like real paintings? No, because your mamma and I are different, and that's why we love each other so much. Your sisters, despite being also girls, they're whole different worlds, which makes them special. You have even more differences, and that's great!"

"Yeah!" Chloe kissed his head "And yeah, we don't have things between our legs to bother us, but you'll get used to yours and they won't bother you as much. Trust me, we girls have other things to worry about and you'll learn about them when you're older. Micah, if you were just like your sisters, you would find it boring at the end, we all would. Really, you're perfect just the way you are."

"Okay..." he shrugged and Chloe hugged him with an arm.

"We love you just like you are babe" Beca whispered cleaning his cheeks.

"Yeah, we think you're awesome. You are our little man, our prince, our most handsome boy ever" Chloe added "And your sisters love having a brother so, so much. We all love you sweetheart, different and all."

"I guess it's okay to be me" Micah murmured.

"You kiddin' me? It's awesome to be you" Chloe revolved her hair "You wanna know the first thing your sister Beth said when she first saw you?"

"What?" he asked.

"She cried and asked us if she could keep you forever." Chloe replied grinning and kissed her. Beca smiled at the memory.

"Really?" Micah grinned.

"I think we have it in video" Chloe smiled "You wanna go and see it?" He nodded and the whole family reunited in front of the TV downstairs as Beca pulled the DVD on it "Okay, this is your brother's first hours alive!"

"And remember I had just given birth, I do not look in my best" Beca added.

"Nonsense" Chloe kissed her cuddling in the couch.

 _"Are you recording?" Chloe was asking to the camera guy in the video, sitting in the side of Beca's hospital bed with an arm around her wife's shoulders and a hand on a little head that belonged to a little body Beca had wrapped in a blanked between her arms. Her ginger hair was up in a messy bum and she looked tired but incredibly happy, wearing her pajama under a sweater and stroking Beca's upper arm with the hand that had surrounded her shoulders lovingly. The brunette was half sitting in the bed covered in blankets, and had tons of pillows behind her back. Her hair was a messy bum too, and she looked absolutely exhausted, but also had a huge grin on her face as she looked to the baby in her arms, that was making some small noises. Alan Mitchell was sitting in the other side of her daughter's bed looking at the baby smiling, and Sheila and Addie were standing next to him also looking at the newborn._

 _"Yeah" they heard Jesse's reply as he walked to the bed, sitting on its side in front of Chloe and making a close up take to the baby with the camera "Oh, look at that handsome guy! Hey Micah!" there was a little baby, looking reddish and completely wrapped in a dinosaurs blanket. His tiny fists were laying on his belly and one of them had one of Chloe's fingers strongly trapped. His then gray eyes were half opened, a bit of brown hair covering his head and his mouth was closed._

 _There was a knock on the room's door, and it opened just a bit, and a blonde woman's head pecked, and just below her, a little ginger person looked into the room with curious blue eyes, her hand wrapped into the woman's hand. Aubrey smiled and looked down at the one year and a half old._

 _"Look who's here Beth!" Aubrey said, and Beth, the ginger toddler whose hand she was holding, grinned and ran towards Chloe._

 _"Mamma, momma!" the toddler yelled almost falling to the ground but Chloe got her finger out of her son's hand and leaned just in time to catch her in the air, Jesse pointing at them with the camera, and sat the kid on her lap, as close as she could to Beca, who smiled taking a hand off her son and pulling a lock of ginger hair out of her daughter kissing her cheek and hugging her with that arm as Chloe put again an arm around her family and her other hand back in Micah's hand, letting the baby take her finger again. Beth just looked intently at her newborn brother, with wide eyes. Meanwhile, Aubrey had approached Chloe and stood beside her stroking her hair softly._

 _"Beth, this is your brother" Chloe whispered by her daughter's ear._

 _"What's his name?" Beth asked._

 _"He's Micah Joseph Mitchell, and he was born just a few hours ago. Do you want to hold him sweetheart?" Beca said, and when Beth nodded, Beca, who had an arm around her daughter hugging her to herself, moved her other arm and with Chloe's help, they put Micah on Beth's lap, and the girl took her brother carefully between her arms, and Beca took care of the little one's head._

 _Beth grinned looking back at his brother, who just yawned, which make her chuckle, and with tears in her eyes, she looked up at Beca._

 _"Can I keep him?" she asked, and Beca's eyes watered, just grinned and nodded. Then the kid looked to her other mamma, who was just cleaning one of her own eyes "Forever?"_

 _"Of course, he's ours forever and ever" Chloe said kissing her hair._

 _"Good" Beth sniffled and smiled at her brother "Hey Micah, I'm your older sister! And I love you so, so much, and I'm gonna take very good care of you." Beca giggled and kissed her daughter's temple hugging her children more closer, and Chloe hugged them tighter "You can play with my dogs and fluffy toys, and I'll make sure you don't get bored in the crib." Beth had started talking very soon, at a bit less than a year old, and had gotten better quite quick too._

 _"You'll take good care of him, won't you?" Chloe asked._

 _"Sure mamma" Beth grinned at her "He's my little brother! Will he like me?"_

 _"I'm sure he already loves you" Beca replied._

"I sure love you sis!" Micah said happily hugging her sister, who giggled. Beca and Chloe smiled at them.

"I love you too! I love all my siblings very much" Beth giggled hugging both of her siblings at the same time.

"You know you are getting another brother or sister soon, right?" Beca reminded them.

"Can he or she sleep in my room with me?" Micah asked.

"Sure" Chloe grinned kissing him "God, I love you all so much."

* * *

Alexandra 1493 chapter 8 . Mar 19

Hi again! I forgot to say that english is not my first language either and.. Realmente espero poder seguir leyendo tus fics dado que de verdad creo que son muy buenos. También me olvidé de comentarte que al comienzo de este capítulo te juro que pensé que Beca se enojaría muchísimo tanto así que seguro pelearía con Chloe pero probaste que ella ya maduro y que lo más importante siempre es la familia.  
Gracias por responderme en el último capítulo, cuidate y nos vemos la próxima semana. Saludos Alex.

 **Hey Alex! muchas gracias por el cumplido, me alegro de veras :) hahah muchos se pensaban eso, y yo también podría haberlo hecho así pero... supongo que no jajaj. Cuídate, un saludo!**


	10. Chapter 10

_Getting a tiny bit disappointed with reviews… lack of interest in the story now? Well ;)_

 _FRIGGING LOVE THIS CHAPTER._

 _So this week's shout (forgot to say it in Lost and Found ;) out goes to my Macedonian buddy, for being an amazing friend with great advices and a lot of funny things to cheer me up when needed, and when not too, wishing you the best of weekends, girl!, to Jake, for being just awesome buddy, although don't you if you're reading man but if not I'll give a call I guess hahahaha, for Simon, not a reader but I know he'll hear about this and man, you're simply amazing… and for the woman who owns my ovaries, for kicking the butt of my natural loneliness ;)_

 **Chapter 10: Big day.**

"Rebeca Mitchell!" a grinning Wyatt Lightwood walked from Tatiana's table in the lobby to his boss, as she walked determinately into the building of _Bulletproof Productions_. Wyatt hugged the shorter brunette "Ready to be back?"

"I think so" Beca smiled a bit "I just want a normal day, no excess of enthusiasm, surprise or whatever. I just left to take care of the family in a time of need, I didn't like receive a bullet that was meant for a kid an almost died, so don't treat me like a freakin war hero."

"Okay" he nodded, and walked beside her to the elevators, as they greeted the coworkers they walked past by on their way.

"Right, so what do I have today?" Beca asked pushing the button number seven in the elevator to go to her office.

"In your desk you will find a folder with some contracts I've already revised but need your approval, in your mail you will find some letters from musicians that want you to work on their music, Emily Junk's new album's photo shoot is over and the album designer sent you and her the finished look to the album, so you may have emails from both of them" Wyatt explained "In an hour, we have a meeting with the public relations' people because there is this event against cancer next week and they are having several performances to raise money and donate it to cancer, and _Bulletproof Productions_ apparently could help them raise money if you disc joked there, or some of our musicians and DJs performed there. At half past ten, you'll be meeting this new singer in studio number eight to work on a track, and then you can spend the rest of the day catching up, revising mixes and produced tracks, and in your desk there's also a folder full of deals that need to be closed soon and other stuff you should do today. You'll be home probably around one, before, I doubt."

"Great" Beca nodded getting out of the elevator "Today Chloe has class until twelve, so I guess we'll have to settle with a late lunch, and I'll let her know she has to pick the kids up. And Wyatt, before anything else, I want you in my office, now."

"Okay boss" Wyatt opened her office's door.

"Couch" Beca closed the door behind them and shot a quick look to the place, that was basically as she remembered leaving it months ago, and took a chair putting it in front of the couch and sitting there.

"What's going on?" Wyatt asked starting to worry.

"Many things, but nothing bad" Beca assured leaning forward with her elbows on her knees "Listen, Wyatt, I'm bad with words so I'll go straight to the point. Thank you. I can't express how lucky Chloe and I are to have you and Eva in our lives, and just thank you, you have no idea how thankful we are and how easy and better you make our lives. And you make my life so much easier. You've been doing tons of extra work that you shouldn't have had to do, and I've been so unfair towards you, so I want to make it up to you. I want to give you this" Beca searched in her jacket's pocket and put a paper on Wyatt's hand. Wyatt looked at it and shook his head.

"God Bec, I cannot..."

"Yes, you can, and you should." Beca said firmly "I'm your boss, so it's an order Wyatt. Accept it."

"But it's... it's five hundred thousand dollars!" he said like if she didn't know.

"Yeah. I thought it should be more but after talking it with Chloe we thought this could be a better idea since having too much all at once so suddenly sometimes ruins people" Beca said "We want you to have it. You have a family, Eva is a nanny because she adores kids, but she doesn't make much with it and we all know it, and I've made you work too much and too hard, and Chloe and I want nothing else than for you and Eva to have six months without working, not from home not anywhere, just take Toby, make the luggage, and go to somewhere nice, or travel around the world, whatever you want. And when you'll back, you will always have to work just as much hours as I do, never extra hours, and look, Eva talks a lot about how much she'd like more kids, give them to her Wyatt. You have an amazing family, just make it better and bigger, and enjoy it."

"We can't accept this Beca, it's too much" Wyatt looked at her intently and Beca grinned.

"Do it for your son and his future siblings then" Beca replied "Look, if I've learned something in my life is that family is more important than nothing else. Respecting them, loving them, trying to please them the best you can, being with them. My father spent years away from my life, I spent years away from social life, and now, I have dead family I never enjoyed enough, never spent enough time with them because of work, never tell them so many things that I should've had told, and I've missed too many things. I can't live with myself knowing I made you miss so many things during these past months because you where here trying to do both mine and your job, you're one of my best friends, and you and your family are part of my family too somehow, so I want you to go, enjoy the family you have because you never know how much time you have with each of them, and don't come back until a few months, and when you do, I hope you have many awesome stuff to talk to me about. Your holidays start right now, pick your stuff and go." Beca leaned back and nodded.

"Beca..." Wyatt shook his head, smiled, and jumped to hug her tightly. She grinned hugging him back.

"Come on, go!" she encouraged him.

"I can wait a few days, you just got back!"

"I'm a big girl Wyatt, I'll survive" Beca patted his back "Go pick your family up and enjoy. Oh, and send me pics from time to time!"

He nodded, hugged her again, and left, speechless.

Beca sighed looking around and went to sit in front of the company laptop Wyatt had settled for her until she bought a new one, and started to work. It was now a quarter past eight in the morning, and the next time she looked at the clock, was almost nine, so she quickly went to see that musician downstairs. When she opened her house's door, she was greeted with her children, both their pets, and the smell of chicken. With Kammy on her shoulders and her other children between her arms, she walked to the kitchen and smiled looking at Chloe.

"Hello gorgeous" Chloe smiled helping Beca leave the children back in the floor and kissing her passionately "How was the morning?"

"It was awesome" Beca replied "Exhausting, but awesome" Beca added "Yours?"

"Pretty good too" Chloe smiled kissing her again "Lunch's ready, and the kids already got the table ready, so let's eat quickly, have a quick nap, leave the kids with the Hannigans, and go get pregnant." Beca grinned nodding. They were doing the artificial insemination that day.

Jacob and Louis Hannigan were their neighbors. They were parents of Beth's best friend in the whole world, Brittany, who was in her same class, and Clark, who was fifteen and Chloe had been his teacher when he was in Elementary. Their usual nanny was Eva, but since the Lightwoods where now officially in holiday, she wasn't to be called.

After lunch, Beca took a quick nap, wanting to be completely ready for the afternoon, and Chloe at first was going to join her, but then was so excited she couldn't fall asleep, so she just went and played with their children. Later, they left them with the Hannigans and went to the hospital to have the procedure done.

"All right, lie down, please remove your underwear" the doctor instructed Beca. She already knew the whole process, but it was still awkward for her, the woman who had taken ages to let Jesse see her naked, let alone let anybody except her wife have her get into a room and take her underwear off, so she blushed and accepted Chloe's help, following the instructions. She got as comfortable as possible in the special bed, and Chloe sat grinning in the side of it kissing her forehead and holding her hand while the doctor went to get the equipment she needed.

"Are you wet?" Chloe asked jokingly.

"Are you kidding me? I'm as dry as the sun, and this is the least sexy thing I've ever lived" Beca smiled at her "The things I do for our family..."

"Yeah, not anybody can say they wanted a kid to the point off getting the panties off for a stranger to put tube into your uterus with some stranger's semen." Chloe chuckled.

"We are awesome, that's what we are" Beca smiled and bit her lip looking at the doctor and a nurse come with the rest of the equipment. They looked to the uterus in the screen as the nurse did an ultrasound while the doctor took a needle with a very thin tube at the end of it, tube that pulled into Beca, looking at it in the screen "Chlo" Beca whispered "why does it look like I have a caterpillar in my uterus?" Chloe held her laugh back biting her cheek on the inside.

"We can always tell our children they came from a caterpillar?" she joke, and Beca chuckled, forgetting about the awkwardness of the whole process.

After it, they were told they'd had to come in fourteen days to see if it had gone fine and Beca was pregnant, so they went back to pick the children up and went back home.

"Chlo, I want chocolate ice cream" Beca said suddenly getting her eyes out of Chloe's laptop, where she was trying to find herself a laptop, while sitting in the couch with her wife, who was watching the children draw in front of them.

"What?" Chloe rose her eyebrows looking at her "Beca, it's October, it's cold, you'll get a throat ache. Plus, it's half past eight, we'll be making dinner in no time."

"But I want chocolate ice cream" Beca frowned "I don't even fancy ice cream that much, but right now, I'll kill for it."

"It must be the hormone medication" Chloe chuckled and kissed her getting up "I'll go get some for you."

"You're an angel" Beca grinned and kept trying to find herself a new laptop.

After dinner, putting the kids to bed, and having a quick shower, the two wives cuddled in bed.

"You know, if I get pregnant now and it's a boy, we're naming him Noah and I'm not accepting a no for an answer" Beca whispered entangled with Chloe in the bed. Chloe smiled looking at her "In fact, I'm going for Noah Beale Mitchell. Your family hasn't had a spot in our children names all along, and Noah will be the happiest boy in the world with Beale as a second name" Beca added "And if it's a girl, we're naming her... I don't know, Sophie Aubrey Mitchell, for example."

"Thank you" the ginger simply said kissing her softly and lovingly.

"For?" Beca asked burying her face on Chloe's crook of the neck.

"I don't know, everything. Is just everything" Chloe sighed hugging her wife tightly "From loving me, to staying with me through thick and thin, marrying me, having this amazing family with me, being with me, taking care of me, being my shoulder to cry on, and everything else. If I could go back to the eight year old me, I know any future I could imagine could be better than the one you've given me."

"You know" Beca rolled over Chloe supporting on her forearms and smiling at her wife giving her a peck on the tip of her nose "I think the one thing I keep wishing for everyday is to things to keep going on this good. To this to not be a dream, to us to be safe and happy, to the children to grow up into even more awesome adults one day, and to things to be worthwhile. I'm the one that has to thank you Chlo" she shrugged "Because many years ago, I was in places that were so dark I thought why? Why would I stand anything one second more? And then I don't know how or why, I guess it was out of pure stubbornness, but I thought I needed to see why. I needed my whys, my whatfors, my answers. I wanted to see if it was worthwhile, where was I going to end, what would my reward be. And thanks to you, I know it was all worthwhile, every step of the way, everything was. To be here, tonight, with you and our children."

Chloe grinned widely, pulling her in for a deep kiss.

. . .

October, 19th was Beth's fifth anniversary of birth. Beca and Chloe woke up early, made pancakes and hot chocolate, and got the table ready with Beth's favorite colors, lilac and yellow, before going up to their son's bedroom, waking him up, and going into their daughters' bedroom stealthily, where they woke Kamara up.

"On three" Chloe instructed as they approached Beth's bed and she sat on the side, stroking Beth's belly "One, two..." and the four of them sang a very well pitched version of _Happy Birthday_ that woke the girl up with a huge grin "Good morning sweet angel!" Chloe greeted hugging her daughter and covering her in kisses.

"We love you so much!" Beca grinned leaning to join the hug and kissing their daughter too. Beth's younger siblings did it too, and soon Beca took Beth on her shoulders "Alright, we have birthday pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast, so let's go!"

"I love my birthday" Beth mumbled with her mouth full of pancakes a bit later.

"Good!" Chloe grinned kissing her hair. Beca smiled at them drinking her own chocolate. Beth was their firstborn, so it was even weirder to see her grow up, but they were trying to see it as a welcoming for new amazing experiences than a goodbye for other ones "You're gonna love your presents. There are presents from us, from your grandparents, uncles and aunts, from Aubrey and Jesse, there is a present from all the other Bellas..."

"Come on Chlo, you make it seem like the most important thing of birthdays are presents" Beca laughed happily stroking Kai's hair distractedly.

"Isn't it?" Beth asked confused with her mouth full of chocolate. Chloe quickly cleaned her.

"Of course not babe, no, no" Chloe smiled "Today is the day we celebrate that five years ago we got so lucky to welcome an amazing new member to our family, the day momma and I became mothers for the first time, the day we saw you for the first time ever, and held you, and cried on you..." Chloe couldn't resist giving her daughter another tight hug kissing her a lot.

"One of our very best days ever" Beca smiled at her daughter "And we are gonna have a great birthday party this afternoon in your honor, because it is important to remember our own importance and value, and today is the day we are like 'hell yeah, look what amazing little kiddo was born five years ago today'" Beth chuckled.

"Can I turn three again next year?" Micah asked.

"What? Why?" Chloe asked.

"Because I wanna have a party for me, but I also don't wanna go to elders' school, have more homework, more responsibilities, and I don't wanna stop playing with trucks or being a baby." He said matter of factly eating happily "Who would want to be an adult, with so much work and responsibilities, and having to pay a house and not having time to play with trucks?"

Beca and Chloe looked at each other speechless and Beca patted her son's back.

"You can turn the age you want son, I support you." Beca whispered.

Later that afternoon Beca, Chloe, Wyatt, Eva, Jacob, Louis and other adults that were Beth's friends' parents, stood in the garden looking over all the children running around playing. Then, Beca felt a sudden urge to throw up, so she ran into the house and to the first bathroom she could find, and Chloe ran after her worried only to find her throwing her guts off knelt in the WC.

"Oh shit" Beca's raspy voice said before another wave of puking it her, and Chloe held her hair back grinning.

"Is this what I think it is?" Chloe whispered stroking Beca's back lovingly. Beca stood clinging into the sink, cleaned her mouth, and turned back to look at Beca.

"Am I... could it be... already?" she asked, and Chloe giggled hugging her and kissing her "I just puked Chlo."

"You cleaned yourself" Chloe reminded her kissing her again "The appointment is tomorrow, but I think you are sweetheart."

"I'm probably pregnant" Beca smiled and kissed Chloe.

It was only a suspicion, but it kept them awake all night and then in the morning, Beca skipped a couple hours at work to go with Chloe and have an ultrasound done.

"There it is" the doctor pointed at a very tiny spot in the screen and smiled "Congrats, you're two weeks pregnant."

Beca grinned widely and looked at the screen and then at Chloe.

"Look at our baby" she whispered, and Chloe sniffled kissing her. They broke the kiss quickly to focus in the screen again, and Chloe caressed Beca's lower belly lovingly.

"I love both of you" the ginger whispered closing her eyes and pressing her forehead to Beca's temple.

Unfortunately, things wouldn't be calm and happy forever.

 _HEY ALEEEEXXX! Thanks a lot for your reviews! Well I have nephews and nieces and I kind of get inspired in them when writing kids stuff. Although they are very weird kiddos too_ _Love you liked it! And thanks I did good, although you'll have to speak with my girl about distractions. Not complaining though hahahahah_


	11. Chapter 11

_This week's shout out is for Susan, Tomboi253, and DatChicAnna, cause new reviewers and also cause Susan always reminds me when it's time to update or when I fuck up the updates_ _also, she's amazing. This chapter, however, is so sweet and corky it could have been written by unicorns feed with rainbows. Hope you guys like it!_

 **Chapter 11: Not in Norfolk.**

When Beca was five months pregnant, in February, they got together for a weekend in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, with the rest of the Bellas' gang and all of the children, to celebrate Valentine's Day altogether in the beach, even though for Beca everyday was like Valentine's Day, even more since Chloe focused on pleasing her, her hormones, their unborn baby, and her cravings, with all the pregnancy. They had discovered they were having a boy three weeks ago, and they already had pictures of the ultrasound and already called him Noah, because there was no way they weren't naming their child after Chloe's best friend who passed from leukemia six years ago.

They were now having fun that afternoon in the swimming pool of their hotel, and Noah had been moving a lot with all the excitement, so Beca was sitting out of the pool after having had to come out to throw up five minutes ago. Her belly was now pretty visible and she sat in her towel with the few of them that weren't in the water either stroking her belly softly with a hand while she watched her children play in the pool with their adoptive cousins and uncles. Cynthia-Rose was also pregnant, being now six months with her third child, Oliver. She had also been pregnant with her firstborn, Ruby, who was born almost six years ago, and her wife Grace had been pregnant with Matthew, their second son who was born four years ago. Flo was also pregnant, in her third month with a boy she and her husband Leonardo wanted to name Hugo. And Emily had just discovered she was a few weeks pregnant with her second one after giving birth to Hailee back in 2024. Chloe and Aubrey were the last ladies to get out of the pool, leaving the water for the men and the children, and sat with the other girls in the towel.

"Is he more calm now?" Chloe asked with a sweet voice sitting with Beca and kissing her cheek while she stroke her belly with a hand.

"Oh, yeah, don't worry. He just got a bit excited with the pool" Beca's lips curved into a smile and gave her wife a peck in the lips.

"This one is going smoothly, right?" Stacie asked holding her two years old Dennis in her arms.

"Yes, all the ultrasounds came just fine" Beca nodded "How're you doing Cynthia?"

"Awesome, the second one is always easier, isn't it?" Cynthia replied.

"True" Beca nodded "I had half the questions. What I still don't know though is how the hell are we gonna manage four kids. Seriously Chlo, what were we thinking?" she looked at Chloe and they laughed.

"Chloe is unbelievable, got the Dark Lord to have not only several children, but get pregnant twice" Emily joked.

"She just needed to have Beth to realize children are worth having" Chloe hugged her wife kissing her repeatedly in the face "We'll do fine. After three, how hard can it be? Plus, our children are so well behaved..."

"That's right" Beca nodded "Wow, he's a kicker." She added suddenly moving both of her hands to her own belly, and Chloe grinned feeling the kicks too.

"At least we know he's having fun! With Micah it was hard to tell, he was so quiet..." Chloe giggled biting her earlobe softly.

"Guys, you won't believe the awesome news Beca gave me the other day" Emily said grinning holding Hailee in her arms as Benji passed behind her to get a beer from the mini fridge and gave the child to the mother.

"Tell us!" Amy encouraged her.

"Yeah, go on Legacy" Jessica added.

"Beca is finished with my fifth album, we are having the releasing party in two months!" Emily yelled enthusiastically and the excited Bellas cheered and congratulated them with great enthusiasm "We are doing a huge party in NYC, right?"

"Yeah" Beca nodded "Even though I can't drink and I'll be seven months pregnant so I'll probably slip back home early, but it'll be fun!"

"Oh, in NYC? Then we could come from D.C., and Flo and Jessica can come from Atlanta, and Lilly from Chicago, and we could all be there!" Ashley said happily.

"I'm sure Koru would love that" Lilly replied and then suddenly smiled "By the way, I totally forgot! Guess what he did last night!" It was now the 15th, so they had spent the night each alone with their families.

"What?" Aubrey asked anxiously smiling.

"He proposed! And I said yes!" she yelled, and then the Bellas started squealing, yelling, hugging her, congratulating, and over exciting.

"You told them?" Koru asked hearing the commotion from the pool, with a smirk.

"Yeah!" Lilly grinned.

"What's going on?" Bob, Stacie's husband, asked getting out of the pool with Ewan and wrapping the almost four years old in a towel.

"Lilly and I are getting married" Koru replied, and then the boys started to congratulate the couple too.

"So it's like an aca-wedding or a normal wedding?" Grace, Cynthia's wife, asked.

"It's definitely an aca-wedding" Lilly replied "After having had nine aca-weddings, and being the last ones to tie the knot, it's definitely an aca-wedding. But we'll do something fun and different."

"Yeah, we'll think of something crazy and original and totally our style" Koru got out of the pool and kissed Lilly in the lips.

"Aw, that's so sweet" Chloe completely melted.

Cynthia-Rose and Grace had been the firsts of the group to get married, right after college. Then, in 2017, Ashley and Frankie Townsend followed. In 2020, Chloe and Beca got married too, followed the following year by Bobby Killian and Stacie, and the year after that, Jeremy Williams married Jessica. They had yet another wedding the next year, Benji and Emily's, then Jesse and Aubrey got married in NYC, in a beautiful place in Long Island, in May 31th 2024, and in 2025 Bumper and Amy and Leonardo and Flo followed. So they had been quite busy planning weddings for six years straight and then they got some calm for apparently a couple years until the Osaka's wedding.

"I can only think of how beautiful it's going to be being able to relax and spend the rest of my life not being worried about any future weddings." Beca said grinning. She hated the whole planning, usually very hurried, and usually having to synchronize just too much stuff and figure out how to do it with very young babies or children.

"Until your own children marry" Jessica laughed "Oh Aca-Gods, can you imagine when all of our children marry?" the Bellas squealed and awed.

"I wouldn't worry about that any time soon" Beca shrugged and said, matter of factly "Our Elizabeth isn't allowed to have sex, move out, or get married, until she's like... thirty? And of course, the same goes to Micah, Kamara and Noah. They will live with us at least thirty years and only then they will be allowed to move out and have sex, getting married only if they want to, and only because let's face it, thirty years old living with their parents gives me shivers."

"Oh, look at you all protective with our babies" Chloe said putting a cute voice and kissing Beca's cheek. The Bellas laughed.

"At the end the most badass is the less badass" Emily laughed.

"What?" Beca rose her hands in disbelief "After we raised them, pulled them through our vaginas, with how incredibly painful that is, or went to hell of paperwork to adopt them, let them wake us up at four in the morning, suck our tits, puke and pee on us, and had to change their diapers constantly, and now you guys seriously _expect_ me to just give them to someone they just met and came with promises of eternal love? Mine is eternal love, they should appreciate me more. They should be fighting to stay with us forever" Chloe giggled kissing her.

"Aw, you're so cute!" the ginger said.

"Oh, Beale made Shorty a softie" Fat Amy joked smiling.

"You did made me less badass" Beca with a side smile said pulling away from Chloe but letting the ginger's freckled rest around her neck "No regrets though. Anyway, Lilly, you gotta tell us the details! Not me, but these ones really want details."

Lilly hadn't decided much about the wedding yet, but she told them the little Koru and her had talked about, and after Cynthia and Beca went to take a very deserved nap. Beca woke up around an hour later feeling kisses down her belly. She had removed her maternity t-shirt to be more comfortable. She yawned a little and heard a soft giggle, but didn't open her eyes. Instead, she got more comfortable enjoying the strokes and kisses in her belly. When she finally looked down, she smiled seeing Chloe caress her belly lovingly and give small kisses here and there.

"You're such a good boy aren't you?" the ginger was dressed again and was whispering to the belly with very, very soft whispering "We love you very, very much Noah. Like a lot. Yeah."

"You're amazing" Beca said, her voice more hoarse because of the nap than what she intended. Chloe looked up and crawled grinning to kiss her in the lips.

"You're not laughing of my silly talk with our unborn baby then?" Chloe whispered after a long kiss, supported on her hands and knees on top of her wife.

"I told you, you made me less badass" Beca joked winking and threw her arms over Chloe's neck to bring her closer for another session of making out until she suddenly pulled apart "Where are our children?"

"By the pool eating ice cream with everybody else. I came to change and you were too much temptation." Chloe said biting her lip.

"Oh" Beca nodded "good."

"Was it a good nap?"

"A great one, but not better than the waking up."

Chloe grinned and they started making out again. Then Chloe's hands were crawling down her now really big breasts and belly, and Beca's hands were between the ginger locks and her back, then soft moans made their way between kisses, and before Beca knew what was going on, Chloe was eating her out and she was trying not to scream with all her will. And then screaming anyway when she reached her climax.

"Momma, look!" Micah laughed when his mothers arrived, pointing at Kammy, whose face was covered in ice cream.

"Dear God" Beca laughed taking a napkin and going to her children making sure their faces were clean "you guys gotta be more careful uh? You're gonna get your pretty clothes all dirty."

"Hey Beca I just realized, you think they'll let you get a plane to be in NYC when little Oliver pops out?" Cynthia realized.

"I don't know, what's that, in may?" Beca sat in the adults table in the bar by the pool, the children if they weren't with their parents were playing close by "I'm due in the first week of July. I can take a one hour plane in May."

"We'll see" Chloe added "And when we ask the doc, regardless of what she says, I'm not letting you take any plane from week 35, so Oliver better be on time. Aw, but you won't be able to come with Oliver so young when Noah arrives Cynthia!"

"Shit" Cynthia-Rose face palmed herself "I didn't thought about that, I wanted to be there!"

"We'll send pics" Beca said.

"You think this one will be saved by the donor from being a shorty like happened with Micah or lucky doesn't happen twice?" Jesse joked.

"You bastard" Beca camouflaged a smile and threw him a look "Noah will be as amazing and perfect as his brother because I make good boys. You're just jealous because you only got one boy."

"I love my girls but you have as many as I do so I guess I can't win" Jesse side-smiled.

"Before I forget" Chloe said after taking a sip from her drink "My birthday's soon, but we'll be in Tampa for the actual day because my little sister Gwen is having her second boy, Samuel, and we'll be there for the month to help the first weeks. But since Ewan, Micah and the twins all turn years in April, we can get together in NYC and celebrate! That way Cynthia can come too."

Everyone agreed, so when it was time to leave, they all did it with hopes to see each other soon. And soon, Beca and Chloe where in the youngest Beale's house as the godmothers of little Samuel Grint, Gwendoline and Cormac's second baby, when the little one was barely two days old.

"He's so cute, did you saw him?" Chloe was saying as they got back in her parent's house, followed by Beca.

"Yeah, sweetheart, I was there" Beca grinned and let her ass fell in the couch. Their children came to greet them, and Chloe and her father went to make dinner.

Beca loved children. Yeah, she had taken a long time to see herself as a mother, but now that she mothered almost four children, she loved being a mom, and watching her children, which she could do for hours. She loved playing with them, playing houses, races, doing tea parties, playing rugby, and whatever her children were up to. She loved when Chloe was pregnant, although seeing her in pain wasn't something she precisely liked, but she had this glow, the sparkle in her eyes, the boobs... and then, being pregnant with Micah wasn't so bad, Chloe took care of her like if she was Queen Beca and spoiled her, but labors? She hated labors. She knew there was the whole biological process after the labor that made the mother somehow forget about how painful it had been and feel really good, and yeah, she felt the best with her newborn in her arms, looking so incredibly handsome to her, and yeah, she was tired and sweaty and her throat was sore and she even felt somehow dizzy, but it was awesome. However, pulling fifty centimeters and three kilograms and a half of pure delicate human through her tiny, tiny vagina, wasn't something she had enjoyed. It hurt, and it hurt like if her hips were about to break, and her back, and the contractions where like hell, and she admired Chloe so much after knowing what it was like. Then she got told girls weighted less and also well less long, but she still though any women to go through that unbelievable pain was a Goodness. Beca never fancied pain, never, she held it quite good, but that didn't mean she wasn't feeling or hating it, just that she was good concealing it, and after having her arm so bad for so long, she got worst at standing any kind of pain. So after having Micah, she swore to herself she would never, ever, go through that again. That, until she got face to face with Chloe's sad face after losing their baby, and now Beca found herself terrified of giving birth.

"Hey Chlo" Beca started a day before Chloe's birthday, the couple sitting by her parent's pool with their feet in the water and their bodies leaning back enjoying the sun while the children and some of their cousins ran, played, and swam.

"Yeah Bec?" Chloe smiled at her leaning to kiss her.

"Wouldn't be great if, you know, I could just fall asleep and then wake up and have Noah in my arms?" she asked.

"You want a C-Section?" Chloe asked with an eyebrow up.

"No, well, maybe? I don't know, I think they could be safer for the baby, you know, he wouldn't be in the danger of being stuck not being able to come out, and he wouldn't have to do all the effort of coming out like that. If you think about it, it's kind of traumatic for a baby to come out that way isn't it?" Chloe giggled.

"Honey you know that's major abdominal surgery and that the recovery is more painful and exhausting, and longer, right? And they are so not better, if they were, don't you think everyone would be born like that? The mother-son bond takes longer to form properly, is less strong, the mom can develop PTSD, and depression, and feel less connected to her baby... trust me, you better get to have Noah through your vagina because otherwise, and I don't want to make you afraid, but it won't be fun" Chloe leaned to kiss her belly "Don't you make it too hard for momma sweetie!"

"I guess you're right" Beca sighed.

"Why, don't you wanna have a normal labor?" Chloe asked worried stroking her cheek.

"Of course I want a normal labor Chlo" Beca stated "I just hate painful experiences."

"Aww" Chloe curved her eyes in a tiny smile "It does hurt. But I'll be with you the whole time, and they'll give you epi, and before you know it, it'll be over and we'll have our beautiful little ball of perfection with us."

"It will freakin hurt Chloe, my hips have to open like this" Beca moved her hands "Allow me to not like it one bit, no matter who's with me. Epi's not that good, I want the good, strong stuff, and they cannot give it to me so..." she shrugged.

"You'll be fine my sweet angel" Chloe took Beca's face with one hand and kissed her hard in the cheek "It won't be that bad, the second is always easier, you heard my sisters and Hannah, and the Bellas, the second is always easier. Look at Aubrey, she popped twins and then Cathy and she's fine."

"Alright, if you say so... but you better be right" Beca accepted wanting to kiss her and smiled at the ginger.

Chloe's thirty seven birthday was March 9th, 2027. It was a sunny day in Tampa, like most of the days there, and the whole family went to Gwen's house for lunch.

"Okay, presents time!" Anna, Chloe's mom, smiled bringing the bags with the presents from everyone. Chloe purposely left Beca's present for the end. It was, surprisingly, a book. Chloe eyed Beca rising her eyebrows.

"Really? This is a new one" Chloe smiled.

"Open it" Beca grinned urging her

Chloe nodded and opened the book, that had a dark blue cover without title or author written. In the usual blank page that was first, Beca had written the dedicatory with a pen: _To my one and only for her 37_ _th_ _birthday. May the rest of your life be as awesome as it has been so far. Love, Beca_. Chloe grinned and turn the page. _Welcome to the world Chloe Anna Beale_ and underneath there was a photo of Chloe herself the day she was born. It was a tiny fatty girl with big eyes opened and cross-eyed, soft ginger hair covering her head, and her mouth yawning, her tiny fists in the air. Under the picture, Beca had written: _Newborn and you already were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. And our Beth is as cute as you._ She turn the page again. _1 Year old_ it was when she was giving her first steps. Her young mother was laughing knelt behind a four year old ginger and handsome boy that held Chloe's hand as the girl carefully seemed to be walking to the camera. She had a huge grin and big blue eyes fixed in the camera, and wavy messy ginger hair covered the top of her head. She was wearing only diapers. _Look at you, always walking forward with such an energy and illusion and showing us mortals how it's done_. Chloe felt her eyes water as in silence she turned page after page. There was one or two photos for year of her life, and soon, she spot a photo of her and Noah on her fifteen birthday _The ones who love us, never really leave us_ was written underneath. Chloe threw Beca a watered smile and turned the page. Soon, she got to the college part and there was a photo after Nationals, Beca in the middle, and Chloe and Aubrey smiling at both her sides, the three of them looking pretty happy and the Nationals' big award in Beca's hands _You showed me what is was to feel completely whole about something and the happiness it is to share it with the world_. A few pages later, it was a photo Beca and Chloe took while they were in Europe together, back in 2018 _You are my flashlight, you've always been more than anyone else. You take me out of the darkness time after time, you make me better, you make me see the best of me, and you never make me feel like a weight even when I am one. You stand by me no matter what, despite all my flaws, and regardless of what it seems or what anybody says, you always think the best of me._ Then, when they first moved in together. Their Norfolk home. Their wedding picture said _thank you for giving me some of the very best days of my life_. And then she pregnant with Beth and sleeping splayed in their bed _I came from work to this when you were 4 months pregnant with Elizabeth. That was the day I realized you were the best thing to ever happen to me, and that I definitely loved seeing you pregnant. I woke you up with kisses and made love to you, and afterward, we spent the afternoon talking nonsense snuggled in bed until I made you dinner and we ate in bed watching old Bella's videos. Then I decided our child would make an awesome Legacy_. The following year, the photo was Chloe sitting in their grass with 10 months old Beth standing between her crossed legs and _Billie_ with a toy in her mouth next to them. Chloe had her hands on Beth's hips to steady her and was explaining something to Beth, who looked amazed. _We were trying to teach Beth how to walk and she fell and instead of cry pointed to a ladybug she found in the grass, and you showed Beth your ladybug tattoo and explained her what the bug was. A second after the photo the ladybug flew and Beth spent ten minutes laughing and making us laugh. It was the day I realized my life was perfect_. The next one was from Christmas 2023 and showed Chloe and their then eight months old Micah decorating the tree. _I enjoyed this Christmas so much today I still tear up with the sole memory. Could you possibly be more gorgeous? Answer, yes. You get prettier by the second._ The following year, it was actually a family photo from Beca's birthday in August, and that same afternoon someone had come to give them Kai and her full custody, and they were already in their pajamas, but you could see the tears in Beca and Chloe's eyes, and the excitement in the other kids _When you told me you wanted to adopt Kamara, I realized your heart was truly the biggest I had ever come across. Our family was and is perfect. And it's thanks to you._ The next one, was just a couple years ago, and showed Chloe grinning at the camera with a diploma in her hands and an award. _This is from the night you received your award for Best Elementary School Teacher of the Year. I was, and still am, so damn proud of you, and you were so happy. Our children gave you cards where they, with my help, had written everything you taught them. You're my hero_. Then there was 2026 and the photo was just from New Year's Eve, and Chloe looked lost contemplating the night supported on some balcony with a cup of wine in her hand. _I thought you looked so pure and beautiful, just so you, I had to photograph you. Also, I could make a thousand photos of you every day because you are perfect._ Then there was a photo of just a month ago where they had been with the Bellas for Valentine's Day, and in that one, Chloe was just playing with a ball in the pool. _To this day, you still are the hottest, sexiest woman alive. And it still gives me chills to see you with little on_. Then, Chloe turned the page, cleaning her eye in the way, and saw there were a lot of pages in blank instead of the end of the book. And in the first of them, a letter neatly written:

 _To my gorgeous wife Chlo:_

 _First of all, Happy Birthday, although you haven't grown one bit ever since I know you. Today I woke up feeling the luckiest day in the whole universe -although you kind of make me feel like that everyday- because I owe to this day thirty seven years ago the existence of the most pure, amazing, incredible creature the Big Bang thing created._

 _I know at thirty seven is time to feel a bit old, but I took one look to this book to realize you've lived so much, and in every single photo here you still look happy, which made me realize that no matter how hard sometimes things get, at the end, you always manage to end up happy, because you're the force of the Earth itself, and you always pull through. You've lived thirty seven years and look how many memories, and how much you have accomplished. So I want you to look at the exactly one hundred fifty pages in front of you and fill them with another happy photo every day, or sad one, so the next year you can see you are good again, and fill them with more memories, and more proof of your strength and of the joy you give to everyone else around you. I hope you end up living so much you need another book to keep going, and I hope that, even when I'm not there to be in the photo with you, you still keep going on._

 _I hope I get another thirty seven years of you, and many, many more. All I want is to get to grow old with you, just like I wanted the day we got married, and see our family be happy and grow up too, and see your hair get white and shiny like your father's and Gandalf's, see the wrinkles down your body and be still there to make love to you, to sink in your amazing eyes, and to lost myself in your awesome smile. For you, I'll pull through anything, so I get another day by your side._

 _I love you more than what vocabulary will let me express. So I'll just show you day after day until your death, because even if I die first, I'll leave so many things on Earth you will just be shown how much I love you every day until you join me. And then, we'll spend Eternity together. So don't be afraid to be thirty seven or seventy three, because we'll always be together, and I'll always be in love with you._

 _Yours forever,_

 _Beca._

Chloe sniffled soundly leaving the book in the table and threw her arms around Beca's neck, kissing her deeply in the mouth.

"I love you so much." Chloe said after making out for a while, still sniffling, and Beca giggled cleaning her tears with her thumbs.

"My precious silly girl" Beca kissed her forehead "I'm afraid we'll be competing with that forever. That said, I love you more."

* * *

 **¡Heey Alexandra! ¡Gracias! Sí, me salieron bien, lo cual fue un poco sorpresa porque he estado enferma, pero ya vamos mejor jajajaj. Espero que todo bien por tu lado, y gracias por dejarme reviews :D**


	12. Chapter 12

_Thanks a lot for the four reviewers to last week's chapter. As you can see, I'm updating a day earlier and, if you're nice, I'm seriously thinking this week I could update tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday too, because I'm on vacation for the time being_ _. This week's shout out goes to Susan, Mila and Jake_ _So ATTENTION the story is getting pretty intense, so be careful._

 **Chapter 12: The world is upside down.**

The second Sunday of May made Beca wake up for something that wasn't nauseas, backache or strong kicking from her little footballer for a change. Instead, Chloe and she got all of their three little tornados jumping in their bed.

"Happy mother's day!" they were yelling.

"Oh God" Chloe grinned hugging all three kids at the same time "Thank you so much!"

"Who wouldn't want to be a mother of these uh?" Beca grinned hugging them and kissing them. The children ran to get their presents and sat in the bed giving them drawings, and Beth, who was starting to learn how to write and now she wouldn't stop, had even written a small resume of " _My moms' story_ " with drawings and a bit of writing. The two women where head over heels with their kids and put all the presents in the best and most visible spot they could find in the living _for everyone to see how amazing our kids are_.

Beca grinned at her family while drinking her coffee, seeing them draw in the table -yes, Chloe too- while having breakfast.

"And this is a bear" Chloe said to Micah "Bec, I think we have little Picassos here, have you seen this? This is one hell of a bear." Beca leaned and observed the drawing.

"Well done Mitchell!" she smiled at the boy, who grinned.

"I love this family" Chloe whispered into Beca's ear a while later, biting her earlobe.

"Me too" Beca grinned. It was gonna be an awesome day.

. . .

In June, Beca and Chloe got bad news. Tyson Huslow, the gym teacher that used to work at Chloe's school until he tried to rape her seven years ago and was sentenced to fifteen years of prison among other stuff, had escaped prison. They got the call one morning, and by that afternoon they had already gotten Jesse to pick their children up and take them to NYC to keep them out of trouble until things got resolved, and also got Wyatt and Eva to take their pets for a few weeks. At first, they weren't too worried, they just wanted to end the matter before Beca got into labor, but then, Huslow murdered his ex wife, son and daughter, and then things got really scary and police offered the couple protection. Since Beca could give birth at any point in the next five weeks, and they were pretty much scared out of their minds, they accepted the protection and hoped the matter would be resolved before Noah was born. And because they were already on holiday, they just stuck in the house all day trying to feel safer.

"How much do you think they'll take to catch him" Chloe asked one morning, as they sat in the kitchen looking at the police guards in their principal door outside, through the window.

"I don't know. It's been a week, it shouldn't take much longer. They said he wasn't being quite careful and they were following his steps quite quickly. Last place he was seen was Tennessee." Beca said quietly.

"Tennessee is what, ten hours away driving?" Chloe sit with Beca again.

"Something like that, yeah" Beca nodded "You sure he's coming, right?"

"Pretty much yeah. He blames me for his divorce, right? And he killed his entire family. And his tracks are like coming here." Chloe nodded quietly "He'll try to reach us, police will catch him, and he'll be in prison and us preparing to welcome Noah."

"You have it all sorted out" Beca smiled and Chloe did too.

"I miss our family though. The house is so silent..."

"I know. We'll get them back soon."

A couple days later, nobody knew where Tyson Huslow was. One day, police convinced them to move into a safe house police had so they did it, and Beca could tell she would be in labor in less than three weeks, and she let Chloe know sitting in the couch of their safe apartment.

"What if I go into labor Chlo?"

"Then we go to the hospital and police will watch your door twenty four seven, just like now" Chloe tried to sound relaxed, massaging Beca's feet "It's all going to be alright. You should have gone to NYC with the kids Bec..."

"What for? Run away and leaving you alone with a crazy man behind your feet?"

"If you weren't pregnant, okay, but you are..."

"Chlo. I'm never leaving you" Beca interrupted serious "Plus, he knows me, I broke his nose, he would've found me. The kids, he doesn't know them or have nothing against them."

There was a knock in the door, and a uniformed police officer got into the house.

"They've seen Huslow a couple blocks away, a patrol went to get him but we are moving you for safety to another safe house" he explained "quick, we are in a hurry!"

"Can we pick up our stuff?" Beca asked.

"There's no time, we need to go, now!"

Chloe helped Beca get up and they followed the officer towards a truck that was waiting for them at the door in the street. The officer got in the copilot seat after helping them get in the back seats and the driver started driving quite fast, getting out of Norfolk.

"Where are we going?" Chloe asked looking through the window.

"It's just a bit outside Norfolk, we won't take long" the same officer informed them.

They stopped in front of a cabin in the woods.

"We arrived. The other cops will join soon, they're busy going after Huslow right now" the same officer said opening the door for them. Beca and Chloe followed the officer getting into the cabin and followed the officer to the second floor, were the officer opened an empty room with only a broken curtain whose stick was hanging from one extreme, and some sheets thrown in the floor "Wait here. We'll be only be here for a couple hours, this one is the safest room." The officer then left.

"Such a friendly place" Beca said with irony.

"Why don't you get comfortable? This will be over today" Chloe said, and Beca nodded before walking to the sheets on the floor and sitting there, and Chloe soon joined and motioned for Beca to rest her head on her thighs.

Ten minutes later, the door opened again and this time, the officer had changed his uniform for normal clothes and, beside him, was Huslow grinning. He must have been the driver, or gotten there not long ago.

"You!" Chloe and Beca quickly got up and walked backwards.

"I didn't thought it would be so easy" the man said. He had gotten even more closet-alike in prison, three times more exercised "Marty here killed the cops. Amazing job. He's a forensic doctor, you know? Can kill with only the right injection." He smiled warmly at his friend, proud "We met in prison, he got out some months ago and decided to help me out here.

"What do you want?" Chloe asked fiercely.

"Let's see..." the tall, brunette man, now with more gray hair, walked towards them just a couple steps "You got me prison, I lost my job, my wife, my kids..."

"You killed them!" Beca yelled.

"They didn't want to love me!" the man yelled back angrily "So you" he pointed to Chloe "Owe me just as much. I can't take your job, but I will take the baby. And then who knows, I could throw him from the window, I could throw him against a wall, set him on fire, throw him downstairs..." he shrugged, and giggled "so many possibilities..."

"You sick bastard" Beca shook her head with her arms around her belly "You won't touch him."

"Put a finger in my family and I'll kill you" Chloe blurted stepping in front of Beca in a protective way "I won't let you touch them. Police will come and kill you, so you have ten seconds to go."

Marty started laughing and so did Huslow.

"Oh, you're so shiny and optimistic" Huslow said cleaning tears of laughter "but you see..." his eyes sparkled "there's nothing you can do. You are nice and give me your baby and I may let both of you alive, or you make it hard for me, and the baby won't be the only one dead tonight, his mothers will join."

"Bad news" Beca said angrily "The baby hasn't been born."

"Oh, yeah... well, as I said, Marty here studied medicine and he's a master in these things... go on Marty, explain what we are gonna do" Huslow seemed to be in eternal joy. Marty grinned and stepped forward to be beside Huslow, pulling a injection out of his jacket's pocket.

"I'll give you this, and it will basically induce the labor" he said smiling "we'll help him come out right here, and then, my friend here will have him at his entire disposition of course. And we'll just go, leave you here like you wanted, police will find you. Unless you make it hard for us, in which case, you will all be killed today." That said, Huslow took a gun out of his jacket and pointed at them "Now Beca, would you mind to come?"

Chloe moved her arms protectively keeping Beca behind her and throwing a fierce look to the two men in front of them, and Beca started trying to think of a way out, trying to avoid looking at the gun or at the needle in front of them, not knowing which of them scared her the most. Their hearts were racing, realizing the only way to reach the door was to ran beside them and that there was no other way out. Huslow composed a sadist smile, his gray eyes fixed on them while keeping a finger in the trigger, and Marty stood with the needle professionally held in the air, shinning while pointing to the ceiling, a transparent drop shining with the sun.

"We need to go" Chloe whispered turning her face a bit for Beca to hear but keeping her eyes on the men "You run to the door and don't look back, I'll take care of them."

"They'll shoot you" Beca whispered back.

"Better me than you and the baby" Chloe stroke her hand softly without removing her gaze from the men "I love you. You gotta keep him safe. There's no other choice."

Chloe squeezed Beca's hand and that's all they needed to react. Chloe ran to Huslow catching him by surprise and throwing him to the ground, hitting Marty on the way and making the needle fall. A shot was fired and Beca ran to the door, fidgeting with the knob, that wouldn't open.

"Come here!" Marty, a tall man that was strong despite being very thin, with gray hair and an old appearance, recovered the needle and was fast enough to reach Beca and slap her in the face, making her yell and fall on her knees. Beca could hear Chloe struggling and yelling while he held her with one strong arm, and no matter how much Beca started screaming, shaking, pushing, fussing and kicking, he could still take the needle and stick it into Beca's neck.

"No!" Beca heard Chloe shout, and sniffled feeling Marty's arms leave her once he had gotten what he wanted. Beca got up and turned around to see Chloe pinned in the ground by Huslow, looking at her with tears in her eyes.

"I couldn't" Beca whispered defeated, hugging her belly "Get off her!" she yelled suddenly looking fiercely at Huslow, who grinned and nodded getting up. He went to Marty and they both walked past Beca and to the door.

"We'll come back in a while to get the baby. Next time, remember I'm a black belt in Karate" Huslow informed before pulling a key out of his pocket, opening the door, and both men left. Beca ran to Chloe.

"Are you alright?" Beca asked examining Chloe "I heard a shot."

"I'm okay, it went to the ceiling" Chloe replied with a bruised eye, sitting straight and hugging Beca tight, crying "Oh, your lip is bleeding! I'm so sorry Beca, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay" Beca hugged her blinking to keep the tears away and cleaned her lip with the sleeve of her t-shirt "I'm fine, the baby is fine, and no matter what the fuck they gave me, he's not coming out. Not yet. We need to hurry up and get out of here Chloe. Did he hurt your head too bad?"

Chloe shake her head and cleaned her eyes pulling apart and looking around.

"I'm okay, my eye bruised and I'll probably have some more bruises because we fought, but I'm okay" she replied, kissed Beca's forehead, and sat straighter looked around "The window" Chloe suddenly said "We could make a rope with the sheets, break the window with the curtain's stick, and use the rope to get out of here. It's only one floor. And then we'll take their car and go back to Norfolk, find the police."

Beca nodded looking at her.

"It's a good idea, but when we break the window, they will run here and they'll take two seconds to open the door and catch us, we won't have time. I can't even go as fast as always."

"You have a better idea?" Chloe asked.

"No" Beca shook her head "But Chloe he has a gun, and we don't have the car's keys. He'll shoot us, he'll shoot whoever is here while the other goes down, and then will break the robe and one of us will die in the fall, or be left paraplegic. We need to bring them down so we can take the car keys and go, because without it, we won't get quite far away, and if we try to go and we don't success, they won't leave us alive."

"You're right" Chloe nodded passing her hands through her hair, stressed "The phones!" she took her cell phone out of the pocket "I've got no signal."

"We're in the woods" Beca patted her pockets in vain, knowing she left her phone with the rest of her stuff "Try sending a Whatsapp."

Chloe nodded. Seconds later, she grinned.

"Bingo! I sent a massive text to everyone we know, plus police, saying I wasn't joking and that we had been kidnapped by Huslow and were in some cabin in the woods near Norfolk, and that they needed to hurry up because he and some doctor Marty had induced the labor and wanted to kill Noah."

"Really? You could send it?" Beca was amazed.

"Yeah" Chloe took pictures of the room and the view from the window "I'm sending these too. Done."

"You write damn fast" Beca smiled proudly.

"Thanks" Chloe kissed her "I have some replies already. Police said they are coming and asked us to be calm. The others are flipping. _Less flipping and more getting us out of here morons!_ " she spoke while texting.

"Hide the phone before they catch us" Beca hissed. Chloe nodded and hid the phone under the sheets in the floor, sitting on top with Beca. Then Beca bit her lip and shut her eyes close, hugging herself with a pained expression.

"A contraction" Chloe whispered.

"And a strong one" Beca said breathing deeply "Awesome. Just how I wanted to give him birth, without epi, two weeks before time, and with two men pointing at us with guns and explaining how they will kill our son." She said sarcastically.

"Try to relax, maybe that will help. I know I'm asking for much" Chloe added at Beca's gaze and got up, taking one of the sheets and approaching the door "Maybe I can do something to keep the door closed..." But ten minutes and one more contraction later, she hasn't managed to keep it closed.

"What are we gonna do Chloe? We can't let them touch him!" Beca said with a pained expression while Chloe sat with her, throwing her arms around the petite woman and letting her support her temple on her chest.

"I won't let them touch him, I swear" Chloe assured "I've got an idea, wait" she got up, pulled from the curtain's stick, that was hanging from just a loose nail, and hid the long wooden stick with her cell phone under the sheets, sitting over them and resumed her anterior position hugging her wife as she rode a third strong contraction "We let them keep going with the labor, and we use Noah as the perfect distraction. They'll be too busy with the excitement and won't expect me to take the stick and hit Huslow in the head real hard. Then, I take his wound and shot the other, and we get the hell out of here."

"What if it goes wrong?" Beca said.

"Everything can go wrong babe, but it's our only chance." She replied sweetly.

"You called me babe?" Beca asked surprised, rising her eyebrows and smiling a bit. Chloe grinned at her "We haven't used that since we lost the other baby."

"I know. I thought it was time to get it back" Chloe whispered removing a lock of brown hair from her sweaty face.

"It is. I love you babe" Chloe smiled and Beca kissed her "So, I guess Noah's arriving here, right?"

"I'm afraid so" Chloe nodded "You think you can do it?"

"I don't think I've got any other option" Beca replied, and closed her eyes trying not to make any noise as the next contraction came "God, it fucking hurts" she said letting a breath out.

Chloe got her cell phone again and smiled.

"Good news, police thinks they know where we are, they're on their way. And Aubrey and Jesse are flying back from NY with the children, and so are the other Bellas, and our families. They're so freaking out."

"That's the normal thing right? Not every day you receive a text saying your sister, daughter or friend has been kidnapped" Beca said through gritted teeth in pain.

"I told the police to hurry up because whatever they gave you is definitely inducing the labor and I'm gonna try get my brother's help to have Noah" Chloe said texting quickly.

After some time, Beca decided to lay down over the sheets and with Chloe's help, tried to get as comfortable as she could.

"You know" Beca whispered stroking her belly softly "if you weren't here, I wouldn't be able to do this."

"I wish there was another option" Chloe said stroking her cheek lovingly.

"Me too. But who knows? Maybe police will arrive in time to have him in the hospital" she said optimistically.

"I hope so" Chloe replied "Your water hasn't broke yet."

"Well done Noah, good boy" Beca patted her belly lovingly "hang in there buddy."

"Maybe you should take off your pants?" Chloe asked.

"God, they are gonna see my vagina, aren't they?" Beca frowned.

"Well, they are so not going to see it in its best moment, it's pretty disgusting" Chloe smiled "but yeah, I guess they won't settle with sitting around and wait while we do all the work."

"Oh God" Beca sighed, and nodded "Okay, help me get rid of my pants."

Chloe removed her pants and panties and covered her with a sheet that looked pretty clean, and then, Beca squealed.

"The water broke!" she said.

"Oh no" Chloe muttered "Oh, no, no" but then, Beca went through another strong contraction, and Chloe resumed her duty of trying to calm her down even if she was hysterical inside. A while later, the two men were in the room again, and this time, Marty had a briefcase of surgical equipment.

"We can't wait any longer" Huslow huffed approaching them "So how is it going?"

"The water broke two minutes ago" Chloe replied angrily.

"Nice!" Marty knelt putting some plastic gloves in his hands and roughly pulled Beca's legs apart and a two fingers into her.

"Hey!" Beca yelled sitting up supporting on her forearms.

"Get your hands off there!" Chloe yelled angrily.

"Shut up" Huslow got his gun out of his pocket and pointed at Beca's belly "or I'll kill them both. We don't have time for stupid girls."

"My hand fits here already" Marty said "but I can't feel his head any closer."

"Of course you can't, he's not coming yet, it has only been an hour or so" Beca snapped angrily.

"Can you do something about it?" Huslow asked the other man, ignoring Beca.

"I can try" Marty replied, and pulled a tiny bottle of what seemed like lube, and used it on Beca "I think it would help if you pushed, so push!"

"Are you nuts or what?" Beca snapped "I'm not fucking pushing yet!"

"Yeah, either we do this our way or any way!" Chloe snapped too.

"You forget who's in charge" Huslow said angrily kneeling and pressing the gun against Beca's belly.

Beca threw a watered look to Chloe, who put an arm behind Beca's back, stroking with her hand.

"It's gonna be okay babe, you can do this" Chloe kissed her temple.

"You better be right" Beca said with a broken voice, and then screamed in unbearable pain as a long contraction came. And then another came following suit, and after that one, Beca let her sweaty face find some comfort in Chloe's chest, breathing deeply as the ginger stroke her hair and whispered comforting words. Pushed by the men, she kept trying to push the baby out for long twenty minutes until she stopped, breathless. "I need a break. I need a break." She whispered.

"There are no breaks for you" Huslow snapped "No kindness for bitches." Marty laughed and pulled Beca's t-shirt up, pushing down on the top of the belly to try hurry the process up. It had been almost two hours and a half since Beca and Chloe got there.

"Stop!" Chloe said seeing pain in Beca's face, while the brunette tried to keep her screams inside to avoid bothering the men "We need more time. You can't possibly have a baby in two hours, it's crazy, she needs more time!"

"We don't have it" Huslow snapped.

"I think he's coming on his ass" Marty said suddenly.

"What?!" The other three persons looked at him, fear crossing the women's faces.

"Well, I think we have no other choice here" and with that, Marty grinned putting a scalpel out of the briefcase and holding it in the air. The sun through the window illuminated it, and Beca's and Chloe's expressions reflected the most absolute fear. Beca felt her heart racing so fast it hurt, and then, she was in great pain again as another contraction came.

* * *

 **Aleeex! So nice to hear from you. Well... I'm doing ;) and thanks so much you're super kind. Not only reviewing but saying all that nice stuff :) Aww yeah kids are the best. I'm very excited my cousins are going to make me an aunt two times more this year :) Take care you too! Regards ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm very very happy with the amount of reviews Titanium is getting, so thank you all and today's shout out is for all those amazing readers who review. To be honest, I love this chapter to the moon and back, but I think it's not suitable for anybody who hasn't turned 18 yet unless they are very tough people. Also people with babies, be careful cause you may feel incredibly sad ;) Thanks Guests for so much support and thanks Alex, 'm glad you're all enjoying and well, we'll keep reading each other_

Chapter 13: Bloodstream.

"No, no, no, you can't do that, you'll kill her!" Chloe rushed to said, terrified and with tears fighting to come out her eyes.

"There's no other choice" Marty smiled looking at his scalpel. Huslow looked proudly at him "It'll rush the process, and it'll be safer for him, wasn't that what you wanted?"

"You're nuts, you're completely out of your minds" Beca said staring intently at the scalpel, terrified.

"Oh, shut up, will you?" Huslow snapped angrily "If the baby wasn't inside you, you'll be dead already. I'll keep her still Marty, proceed" he strongly pushed Chloe away, making her yelp and hit the wall. Huslow used his strong arms to pin Beca to the ground, taking her by the arms.

"Chloe! Chloe, don't fucking...!" Beca started to scream, fussing, yelling and trying to get rid of the men, but before she could finish the sentence, she was screaming in unbearable pain as Marty had already inserted a good part of the scalpel in the low part of her belly and was making a long incision.

"Don't you touch her!" Chloe yelled, jumping from the ground and before she knew what she was doing, she had very quickly pulled the stick out of the sheets and hit Marty hard in the head, knocking him out instantly, as the men were so distracted and amused they weren't expecting it, and Huslow went to take the gun again, not caring about Beca, who was in too much pain to keep offering resistance, but Chloe moved faster, kicking his head too, and the gun fell next to her. She ran, took it, and without blinking, shoot twice at Huslow in the chest. Right then, police sirens cut the air.

Chloe let the gun in the ground and breathed deeply, looking at Beca. The brunette was unconscious in the floor, looking as pale as the sheets, not even her lips had color left and his abdomen and clothes were covered in dark, red, blood. She had a deep incision that was as long as a hand. Chloe's heart dropped and she run kneeling beside her.

"Beca, Beca! Wake up!" she shook her arm, and even slapped her softly, but the younger woman didn't even flinch. Chloe reached her neck with two fingers, looking for a pulse, and despite the coldness and whiteness of her skin, she found a faint pulse and let a breath out that she had been holding "Hang in there baby, I can hear sirens close. I'm gonna get help." Chloe wrapped a sheet tightly around the wound, and checked in the men to make sure they wouldn't wake up. Huslow didn't even had a pulse and had already formed a pole of blood and Marty's head was deformed. Chloe hurried up, took the keys from their pockets, and ran downstairs, opening the cabin's door wide and running to the road, seeing sirens far away "HELP! HELP!" she screamed as strongly as she could, waving with bloody hands in the air. Soon, two police cars and an ambulance -Chloe had texted them to let them know they would need medical attention when they realized Noah was going to arrive- were stopping in front of her "Hurry up, they're dead, but she's bleeding out!"

Two cops and the EMTs quickly followed her while the other cops called for help and advised the closest Hospital to get ready. The EMTs quickly put pressure in Beca's wound and put some meds with an IV and some clean medical blankets, putting her in a stretcher and into the ambulance. Chloe got into it too, sitting as close to Beca as they'll let her.

. . .

"Sh... it's okay buddy, it's okay" Chloe sat in a chair rocking Noah back and forth, the newborn wrapped tightly in a blanket while they waited in a hospital corridor patiently. He was half asleep, and his hair was covered in brown hair, one of his tiny hands wrapping tightly one of Chloe's fingers "You're such a handsome boy Noah, aren't you? Yes you are" Chloe smiled at the baby, although it was a sad smile, the tears in her cheeks hadn't completely dried yet.

They had been in the hospital for almost an hour, and just fifteen minutes ago a nurse had gotten out of the room where Beca was having surgery with their tiny new human in her arms, and had smiled widely telling Chloe he was fine and healthy, and giving her a special baby bottle he had already finished. Another nurse came shortly after to inform her they were still going to need another hour or so, that Marty had teared apart her abdominal muscles and they needed to be extra careful. Apparently, but not surprisingly, it had been a really badly done C-Section, so Chloe nodded, her her newborn tighter, and sat patiently waiting for any news she could get.

A nurse came into the OR, and shortly after went out and smiled at Chloe.

"What do you think if we take little Noah to a pediatrician for a quick check and give him some nice pajama?" the nurse asked Chloe "I've already talked with your wife's doctor, he will know where to find you when they're over."

Chloe nodded and not much longer she was holding a much cleaner and now dressed with a cute body suit in her arms.

"He's completely healthy" the pediatrician assured her with a warm smile.

"Good" Chloe nodded kissing Noah's hair supporting him on her shoulder, and sniffled holding relief cries back.

"It'll be alright, you'll see" the doctor said stroking her back friendly. Chloe nodded closing her eyes with her lips in Noah's head. There was a knock in the door and another nurse came in.

"Miss Mitchell?" Chloe looked up.

"I am. Chloe Mitchell, and this one is Noah" she said nervously. The nurse smiled.

"Your friends and family have been waiting for you. We gave them a room so you can wait more comfortably. Your wife is still in surgery, but I'll personally make sure her doctor knows where you are."

Chloe nodded and followed her, her heart racing with the perspective of seeing her loved ones and be comforted by someone. The nurse guided her to a room, like the ones the patients had, but without any patient in it, instead, an empty bed, no medical equipment, a couple sofas and some chairs, and a lot of people. Chloe's entire family was there: her parents, Charles and Anna; her four years older brother George, her one year older sister Sophie, and her little sister Gwendoline. Then there was Beca's family, her dad Alan and his wife Sheila. Finally, there were their friends, Jesse and Aubrey, Fat Amy, Ashley, Stacie, Lilly, Cynthia-Rose, Emily, Jessica and a very seven months and a half pregnant Flo that probably shouldn't have come. Wyatt and Eva were also there, and also Angela, who used to be one of Beca's best friends and her secretary when Beca lived in Los Angeles nine years ago. Chloe guessed the rest of the Bella's husbands were, like her brother in law or Addie, Beca's step sister, at home.

Chloe was immediately welcomed by her sister Sophie, who carefully took Noah out of her arms, handing him to their brother George, who stood close by, and wrapping Chloe in a tight hug that triggered her to start crying. And once she started, it took a while for her to stop, but she finally did, and accepted a seat between her sister and her father in law, who hugged her too, kissing her temple and stroking her back lovingly. Noah was now in Aubrey's arms.

"Here" Anna, her mother, gave her a plastic glass of water she gladly accepted "Better?" Chloe nodded and managed a tiny thankful smile.

"My children?" she asked.

"They are at your house with Daniel, Anna, Cathy, Toby, Koru, Cormac, Seth, Leonardo, Amanda, Hannah, Grace, Oliver, and all of the Beale cousins." Jesse replied.

"Thanks" Chloe nodded "Addie?" she asked looking at her father in law.

"She's staying with a friend at home, we promised to keep her informed" Alan replied "Chloe, you need to tell me what happened sweetie. Another of my children is fighting for her life and I need to know why."

Chloe nodded again.

"I know" she breathed deeply and cleaned her eyes with a tissue Stacie offered her "Some months before our wedding, there was this guy at work, a teacher like me, named Tyson Huslow. He was the gym teacher. Well, one day, Beca was going to pick me up, and she found Huslow about to rape me, and she broke his nose, if I remember correctly. I was fine, and once I got over the initial fright, I decided not to give it more thoughts than necessary, there was a trial, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, he lost his job, he couldn't go near Norfolk or myself, his wife divorced him" she explained "our wedding was about to happen, so we kind of buried the topic and focused on happier things. We hadn't heard nothing about him until a few weeks ago, when police told us he had escaped from prison and that he was probably after me, so with three little children and another on the way, we decided it was better to keep them far away, and sent them to New York with Aubrey and Jesse, where they've been all along. We stuck in our house, police at the door the whole day every day, and not long ago, they told us it was better for us to go to a safe apartment they got us. Early today, some guy named Marty who used to be a forensic doctor pretended to be a police officer and killed the ones that were at our door, and convinced us Huslow was close by and we had to go somewhere else safer. That's how we got to a cabin in the woods, outside Norfolk. And Huslow was friend of his, and was there too." She took a gulp of water and Sophie stroke her thigh encouragingly "We tried to get out and there was no way. Huslow had a gun, the other was just a sadist wanting to rip bodies open. Huslow said I took his family away from him, when truly his wife divorced him for what he was, and he killed her and his children some days ago, so he was going to do the same, and take Noah again. We reminded him Beca wasn't due until a couple weeks more or so, and apparently he had it all planned. The sadist forensic had a needle with some sort of liquid that he injected Beca using force, and it accelerated the labor, a lot. So she started having contractions and stuff and the others were just pointing with guns at her, telling us how they were gonna throw our son by the window or the stairs, and being a couple of happy sadists daydreaming out loud about how much they were gonna hurt him." Her voice trembled and she breathed deeply "She got into labor, kind of. She was having strong contractions, I found out I had Whatsapp service and in the minute they left us for a while, I sent texts for help. I got a stick from a broken curtain and hid it to use it later. And then they came hurrying her up, saying they hadn't time, rushing things, and it had only been a couple hours and a half, she wasn't ready, it wasn't time, but they didn't care, and Huslow had a gun against her belly promising to shoot if she didn't try harder. So she did, for a long, long time, and then Marty the crazy forensic said the baby was coming by his feet, not his head, so he pulled a scalpel out, and before we could do something, he had made a hand-long deep cut in her belly, and she passed out, and I got the stick and knocked them out. Police came, ambulance came, we got here. The doctors had to take Noah out because Beca was too bad." She sniffled and Alan stroke her back softly, and she leaned her head against his chest "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright" Alan replied, his voice sounding broken "She'll be alright. I know my daughter, she's strong, she'll pull through this crap."

"On the other hand" Anna said holding her new grandson in her arms with a tiny smile "This one is a handsome and strong little boy. He came out fine, right?"

"Yes" Chloe nodded looking at her son "yes, he's alright. He's perfect."

"What's his name?" Gwen asked.

"Noah" Chloe replied "Noah Beale Mitchell. Beca decided it."

"A perfect name for a perfect little boy" Charles smiled at his grandson "Hi Noah. Has he eating something?" he added looking at her daughter.

"Yes" Chloe replied "the nurses gave him some kind of special baby bottle, until Beca can breastfeed him at least."

"What happened to your eye?" Aubrey asked worried. An EMT had been putting ice on Chloe's eye and it looked so much better, but her temple and eyebrow were green-ish "And your arms... you're covered in bruises!"

"Wouldn't you be thinking I would let anybody hurt my family without a fight, would you?" Chloe muttered tiredly, and Aubrey nodded.

"You must be drained honey" her dad said after a while "there's a bed over there. We'll look after Noah, and it'll probably take a long time until we know something about Beca, so why don't you rest a bit?"

"I can't" Chloe shook her head "I'm too worried to feel tired. They've already taken a lot of time, I need to see her and know she's okay."

"Is there anything we can do?" Fat Amy asked.

"You've already done more than I could ask for" Chloe smiled a bit, thankful "although, I'm gonna try call my children. I could use some talk with Beth." She got up, too nervous to be sit, and took her cell phone out of her pocket. Before she made the call, she frowned and looked at them "Did someone went to the apartment we were in? All of our things are there, including Beca's cell and our documentation."

"I'm sure you can ask police to go once you've seen Beca. Or one of us could go" Jesse replied. Chloe nodded and called Cormac.

"Cormac, I'm Chloe. Can I speak with Beth, please? Thanks... hey sweetheart, how are things going over there?" Chloe smiled sitting in the bed and hearing her daughter tell her everything about what her siblings, her and all their cousins and friends had done that day "That sounds amazing honey, are you having fun then? Good... well, I'm at the hospital honey, you know your brother was born? He's fine, he's so handsome" she heard her daughter's excited yells of happiness "You'll get to meet him soon, I'll send your uncle a photo so you guys can see him. I don't know when we'll be home sweetie, but it'll be as soon as possible, although I'll stay tonight with your momma and call you in the morning okay?" then the kid asked for her mother "She's... she wasn't feeling very well, so the doctors are with her now, and I'll get to be with her soon, and I'll let her know you asked for her. I don't know baby, but you know your momma, I bet she'll be running after your cute little butt soon, alright? Yeah, I'll take good care of them sweetie. You be good with your uncles, okay? Help them however you can, you know where everything is and if you need anything, call me, at any time day or night, alright? Okay... good. Hey, and take care of your siblings for me okay? I'll kiss them from you, of course... I love you too baby, eat well and sleep tight okay? And if your sister has nightmares again, you call me right away. Bye..." she hung up and sighed. Then, she went and took Noah in his arms, giving him a kiss on the forehead "This is from your older sister" she whispered, and kissed him again. She took a quick photo with his cell phone and sent it to Cormac; _Noah Beale Mitchell. Show him to his siblings! Xoxo_.

"Hey Chlo" Aubrey spoke, watching her best friend bounce her baby on her arms softly and singing in bare whispers, the baby falling asleep quickly "What happened to those bastards? Are they in this hospital too?"

"No" Chloe sat in a chair still rocking Noah softly "I broke Marty's head with the stick. And I shot Huslow twice in the chest, I checked and any of them had a pulse." She bit her lip and looked up from her son, facing the other's amazed expressions "I'm not even sorry, not after what they've done. And if she... if she... dies... I'll be proud of myself. They had it coming, I told them nobody messes with my family, we told them there was no way they were putting a finger on Noah. They deserve death like not many people does. Plus, I wanted to make sure any of us had to worry about them anymore, Beca's gonna go through enough if she lives to have to live in fear of them coming back."

"Nobody blames you Chloe" Alan nodded and Chloe looked back to her son, stroking her cheek with a finger.

"He's definitely a Mitchell. He has your family's ears, and the lips" she whispered with a tiny smile and Alan walked towards her and crouched to see him better, and put a smile in his side.

"I definitely recognize some things. Although Micah's more like Beca." He replied.

"She'll like Noah" Chloe nodded "Do you guys think she'll recognize him as her biological son? I read somewhere sometimes mothers who birthed through C-Section or had a traumatic labor and never got to hold their babies right at birth don't bond with their babies."

"Well, she has two non biological kids, one of them she didn't even met until the baby was like six months old, and she bonded with them quite good, so I wouldn't worry" Gwen replied.

"That's true. Kai couldn't be more different from us and we still bonded" Chloe nodded more confident. Then there was a knock at the door, and a female doctor came in.

"I'm doctor Robbins, I'm looking for the family of Rebeca Mitchell" she said with a polite smile. Chloe quickly handed her baby to Aubrey and she and Alan walked to the doctor.

"We are" Chloe said "I'm Chloe, her wife, and this is her father, Alan." Alan nodded nervously "How is she?"

"She'll live" she stated, and Chloe breathed out in relief, holding tears of joy back "She's in the ICU though, and she'll have to stay there for a couple days to receive close attention. The attempt of C-Section was quite bad, the cut was done a bit higher than how it should be, the person who did it knew pretty much nothing about C-Sections, and the uterus was a bit teared, the abdominal muscles are teared, and only to cure that she'll need around three weeks of rest. Also, we are watching her heart really closely because it speeds up a lot with labor and stress, and then it slowed the rhythm a lot with the blood lose, and there is a certain risk of heart problems, but she should be fine and back home in a week or so. Anyway, I would worry more about her psychologically than physically" Chloe nodded and Alan sighed in relief.

"Can we see her?" Alan asked anxiously.

"She's sleeping and she'll need a lot of rest, but you can stay with her for a couple hours and come again in the morning, although I'll doubt she'll wake up until tomorrow night or so." The doctor informed "If you come with me, I'll take you to her."

Chloe ran to Noah and kissed his forehead.

"I'll be back soon sweetheart. Take him home, alright?" she asked Aubrey, and she nodded. Then, she and Alan left.

. . .

When Alan and Chloe came back home, it was dinner time and the whole house was full of noise and people and smelled deliciously. On their way home, they had stopped to pick Chloe and Beca's stuff from the apartment, and Alan went to take it all to their bedroom while Chloe went to the living-dining room. _Billie_ and _Avery_ , their dog and cat, were back and greeted her on her way there.

"Mamma!" her three children ran to her immediately and she knelt in the ground and hugged all three of them strongly, kissing them and letting them kiss her. The last time she hugged them was two weeks ago and she had missed them a lot, as the tears in her eyes showed.

"I've missed you!" Chloe cried hugging them tightly "God, you've grown and everything! My sweet pies, I love you very, very much."

"We love you too mamma" Micah grinned and kissed her cheek.

"And we love our brother!" Beth added excitedly "He's the most handsome baby mamma!"

"He is isn't he?" Chloe grinned.

"Don't cry mamma" Kai cleaned her cheeks with her hands and Chloe kissed them.

"I cry because you make me so happy" Chloe hugged them again.

"What happened to momma?" Beth asked "And why are you bruised mamma?"

"Where is she?" Micah added.

"I got into a tiny fight, but I won... Come, come with me" she sat in the couch and her children snuggled against her "Your mother has serious injuries that need to be treated in the hospital, and she'll be there for a week or so. However, she's now much better, and she'll be even better in the morning, and day after day. I saw her, and she was sleeping, but I kissed her from you guys and let her know you miss her, and I know she misses you a lot too."

"She home?" Kai asked.

"She'll come home soon, honey. Just a few days, okay? And in the meantime, you have your cousins, and your friends, and all the family is here! Isn't that awesome?" The three kids nodded "Have you eaten yet?"

"We were about to" Beth replied.

"Then go have dinner, and I'll tell you a bedtime story. Tomorrow morning I'll go early to visit your momma, but if you guys are still asleep by the time I have to go, I'll wake you up for a moment to kiss goodbye."

"Can we sleep your bed today?" Kamara asked.

"Yes baby" Chloe smiled "you can all sleep with me in momma's and mine's bed tonight, although your little brother will probably wake us all up."

"It's okay" Micah shrugged "We forgive him."

Chloe smiled and the children ran to the table were their grandmother had all of her nine grandchildren sat, with the exception of Noah and Samuel, who was also too young. The table was usually a eight seats table, but it could get bigger and now had room for twelve people. The three Swansons were also sitting there, and they had bought an extra chair for Toby, Wyatt and Eva's son. When they were over, Chloe took her children upstairs with her father in law and put them their pajamas on.

"You can play for a while, when I have dinner I will tuck you guys in momma's and mine's bed" Chloe said putting Kai a t-shirt on. The kids nodded and ran to join their friends. Chloe sighed and went to her bedroom.

It was just like they left it weeks ago, their bed perfectly made, everything perfectly clean and in order, well, there as a soft cape of dust on the furniture and _Avery_ had already snuggled in the middle of the bed, but otherwise it was just the same. Also, Noah was sleeping contently wrapped in a blanket in his crib next to the bed. Chloe walked like a zombie to him, kissed his forehead before making sure the blanket covered him nicely, and went to the bags Alan and her had carried from the safe apartment, and put a clean pajama out before going to the bathroom. She removed her jacket and was faced with the blood in her t-shirt she had been hiding for a long time. Beca's blood. A plastic bag with Beca's bloody clothes was already in the bath tub, and Chloe just filled the sink with water and soap and sank the clothes there, starting to sob as she watched the water turn red. She went to the shower, and had a quick shower mostly to cry without being noticed, and then changed into her clean pajamas, put one of Beca's sweat-shirts on breathing her scent, and went downstairs again, after checking that Noah was still asleep.

Somebody had put a movie in the TV, and all the children were in front of it between the couch and the soft rug they had in the floor -it was one shaped like a giant colorful puzzle with the alphabet printed on it that Beca had bought a bit before Beth was born, saying it was cute and that that way their daughter could lay on the floor all she wanted while playing- and Kamara and Owen were already asleep around the couch while the other children were focused on the TV. The kids the Bella's had, and the ones Angie and Amanda's had, were in their houses with some other family members taking care of them. Chloe smiled a bit seeing them, and went to the table. Although they called it a dinning-living room, they were actually two different rooms connected by an arc, so it was practically one room. The table was full with food and perfectly organized for the twenty eight adults they were, and right in that moment, Gwen and Wyatt were bringing the last plates with food from the kitchen. Chloe sat between Aubrey and Sophie, although she wasn't very hungry.

"God, how could you make all of this? The kitchen was empty... it's amazing" Chloe said looking at the table astonished "Thank you."

"A few of us went shopping while you were with Beca. Don't worry" Charles Beale, her father, said while filling a plate with food and handing it to her "and eat. It'll feel good."

Chloe nodded and fixed her eyes in her soup. She was tired and had the images of Beca bleeding and coding in the ambulance, and then she lying so pale in a hospital bed, with tubes around her. The table was filled with small talk, but she wasn't paying attention to any of it, she just felt like crying. She sighed and Aubrey caressed her back lovingly, massaging the back of her neck, so she dropped the spoon in the now empty plate and supported her cheeks on her hands, closing her eyes and trying to relax and breathe deep.

"How was she?" Aubrey whispered kissing her shoulder and supporting her chin there.

"Pale" Chloe whispered in return "like she came back from the dead, which she actually did. But she'll be fine, I hope."

"She will be" Aubrey replied "I'm here for you, okay? Whatever you need, just count with me." Chloe nodded.

"Chloe" Alan called, and Chloe looked up to him "Do you mind if the two of us stay here tonight? We forgot to book a room."

"Absolutely" Chloe nodded "Yeah, stay for as long as you want, and that way we can go together in the morning to see Beca. We can put an inflatable mattress that's quite comfortable in the attic for you."

"Sure" Alan gave her a small smile, and Chloe tried to return it.

"Now that you mention it" Chloe said "My kiddos want to sleep with me tonight, so their beds are free, and also there's one extra bed in Micah's room, and another pair in the girl's room. Also, the sofa is a bed-sofa, just in case somebody else doesn't have where to stay."

"We have a spare room at our place too, by the way" Eva added.

"Could we use the room we always have in the basement?" Jesse said "we completely forgot about booking rooms."

"Okay, the girls can all sleep in my girls' room. And Daniel can make himself at home in Micah's room." Chloe replied.

George and Hannah ended up wanting the bed of the sofa, and their son and daughter could take a bed in the girl's room and the one in Micah's. Lilly and Koru had also forgotten to book a room, so they took the Lightwoods' offer. The rest were all in hotels close by, so there wasn't a problem with that.

"Mamma?" Beth was sobbing quietly by the arc that divided the dinning-living room.

"Baby are you crying?" Chloe got up and Beth ran to her, being quickly lifted up in her mother's arms and sat on her knees crying soundly as Chloe sat again hugging her eldest daughter "What's wrong honey?"

"I-I had a n-nightmare" Beth hiccupped pulling her face away from Chloe's chest, and Chloe frowned, cleaning her child's cheeks with her thumbs "M-momma d-died."

"Oh" Chloe kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly against her cheeks, stroking her back lovingly with one hand "It was just a nightmare honey, it never happened okay? I can guarantee you your mother is just sleeping and very much alive."

"How are you so sure?" Beth asked more calmed.

"Because her kind nurses promised to call me if there was any update with her." Chloe stated kissing her ginger waves "I promise you she's fine Beth. Your mother would rather sell her children to an Italian mafia than dying on us."

"Pinky promise?" Beth asked pulling away again and raising a pinky. Chloe smiled a bit.

"Pinky promise" Chloe nodded rising her own pinky to seal the promise "You'll have her back sooner than you think. Remember how I was in the hospital too, last year? And I came back, so your mother will be back too."

"But you came back all sad and grumpy, will she be all sad and grumpy too?"

"Probably" Chloe nodded "you see, she's really hurt now. And when she's back, she'll probably feel really sad and a bit in pain, and that will probably make her a bit grumpy. But I bet when she gets to meet the baby she just birthed and to see all of you again and come back to her home after so long, she'll feel much better. And we will help her as much as we can so she can get better soon, just like you helped me. Alright?" Beth nodded.

"I can rub her feet and bring her cookies to bed" Beth suggested, and Chloe smiled.

"Of course you can. And you can give her a thousand kisses too" Chloe replied and Beth smiled.

"That will help right?"

"Yes it will."

"And when will she come back? More or less."

"A week, maybe a bit more" Chloe replied stroking her hair "Come on, let's put you and your siblings to bed, it's late."

Chloe took her daughter up in her arms and went to the living, leaving Beth on the floor to take the sleeping Kai and telling Micah it was bed time. They went to the master bedroom and Chloe pulled them in the bed and checked on Noah, who was now awake but in silence, and tucked the other three in bed, sang them to sleep, took Noah in her arms, and went downstairs again. The other children were still sleeping there, so she went to the table where the adults were chatting quietly, and smiled down at the new Mitchell in her arms, who put a fist in his mouth filling it with saliva while looking at Chloe expectantly.

"What's up with you chubs junior?" Chloe smiled at him "You'll get to see your momma soon, you'll see. The one who birthed you, you already know her a lot. She sang to you a lot, you know?" she whispered caressing his little factions lovingly.

"He's such a cute little boy" Sophie said looking over her sister's shoulder and smiling down at the baby "You think Beca will be up to meet him tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I'm still bringing him though" Chloe replied "you guys think it'll be too weird for her?" she said looking up to the others "I mean, not even twelve hours ago she was pregnant, she still has her belly, and now I'm gonna go and be all like _this is your baby, there's no one else inside of you anymore, and you have to blindly believe me when I say this is Noah_."

"It'll definitely be weird" Angela said putting a funny face "but still, isn't it like when you guys adopted Kai? Wasn't it like _this is your new daughter Kai, who doesn't even look like you and you didn't even had her in your wombs, but love her unconditionally anyway_? This can't be that weird." Chloe shrugged.

"I guess you're right. Well little munchkin, you better drift back to sleep, we've got a long day ahead tomorrow" even though it was barely past nine at night, she got up bouncing Noah softly "I'm gonna head to bed too, I'm exhausted. Make yourselves at home, alright?"

"Night Chlo!" Jesse and others wished her.

"Goodnight!" Chloe wished back to the others as she went out of the room and up to her bedroom. There, she left Noah in the crib and moved it to her side of the bed and as close to it as possible, and laid in her side of the bed next to Noah, who instinctively moved to hug her while sleeping, and she caressed his hair absentmindedly and put her free hand between the bars of Noah's crib to stroke his tiny legs over his blanket.

She lied awake for more than an hour, too exhausted and traumatized to sleep, but soon, she was back with Beca in her dreams.

 _A loud laugh sounded and in front of her, there she was, the psychopath Cressida Etton back from the death, laughing hysterically holding a crying newborn in her arms._

 _"Noah? YOU BITCH DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" she could feel her throat aching with her screams. She looked down and saw Beca lying on the floor, pale as she had never seen her before, her eyes looking blankly to the ceiling "Beca?" she stroke her cheek and started crying "Beca? Please, wake up babe! NO! DON'T TOUCH HER!" she screamed when she realized two men were making deep cuts on her wife, time after time, laughing. The atmosphere was also weird, like if she had smoked weed or something._

 _Cressida Etton, the woman who murdered Beca's mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew nine years ago, and also tortured and tried to kill Beca and Chloe_ [A/N: "You make me bulletproof".] _smiled at her and got up with Noah in her arms, and started walking towards an open window. Chloe tried to follow, but her body weighted a lot and she couldn't move. Was that blood between her thighs?_

 _"NO!" she screamed with all the force of her lungs as Etton grinned and threw the crying newborn through the window._

Her eyes shot wide open as she sat straight very suddenly in her bed, her eyes momentarily blind from the light that went through the curtains of her bedroom. She was covered in sweat and was breathing heavily as tears silently went down her cheeks.

"Shh" Aubrey was standing in her pajamas next to her with Noah in her arms, who was crying. She quickly glanced at Chloe and a worried frown appeared on her face "Chlo, God, are you alright?" Chloe really wanted to reply, and say that no, she wasn't fucking okay, but she found she couldn't even breathe, let alone talk. Aubrey noticed this "Come, come with me honey" Aubrey pushed the crib aside keeping Noah well balanced against her chest with one arm, and extended a hand to Chloe, who grabbed it with her sweaty hands like if her life depended on it, and they walked out of the bedroom "Jesse! George! Hurry!" Aubrey shouted when they got out of the room and into the corridor and Chloe sat on the stairs, starting to get dizzy and her vision blurry and trying hard to cry and breath at the same time "Take Noah and calm him down please" Aubrey instructed somebody, and then knelt in front of her putting her hands on Chloe's cheeks and stroking them tenderly "Breathe with me honey, alright? That's okay, it's okay" she instructed her best friend.

"What's going on?" Chloe heard her brother, the doctor, ask.

"She had a nightmare and it gave her a panic attack" Aubrey stated not moving her gaze from Chloe, and George quickly sat beside her sister on the step and rubbed circles around her back tenderly.

"Try to breath sis, you're gonna feel better soon okay? You're doing very good, that's it, keep going" he was calming her softly. They sat in silence as Chloe's breathing calmed down and went back to normal, and the ginger just stared blankly at her feet "Better?" Chloe shook her head "What can we do for you chubs?" Chloe then started crying strongly and hid her face in her brother's chest, who just hugged her tightly whispering soothing words to her.

Hurried running through the stairs was heard and then Sophie, Gwen and Jesse appeared, the last one no longer holding a baby.

"Anna's giving Noah one of his special milks" Jesse informed.

"What's going on?" Gwen asked worried looking at her older brother.

"Our sister had a really bad dream and now she needs a moment, that's all" George calmly said.

"I didn't h-had a b-bad dream!" Chloe shouted pulling away from her brother "Don't you get it George?! I had my fucking memories back! We were tortured! Tortured! And someone tried to kill us! And that was nine fucking years ago and I remember it like if it had been ten minutes ago! And my wife's family was fucking murdered, and then someone who was like a brother to me died of fucking leukemia, and then I had a damn ectopic and our baby died before he or she was even born and wait for it! Yesterday my wife was fucking tortured in front of my damn eyes! She could be dead, George! And Noah could be dead! And I'm so, so, freaking angry because none of us fucking deserves that, and even less she! And if you think I'm bad, then wait until she wakes up and she can't fucking get ten minutes of comforting sleep! SO STOP SAYING EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT BECAUSE RIGHT NOW MY ONLY WORRY IS FOR HOW LONG!" she shouted, not caring there were plenty of kids -including her own- sleeping in the house. The others looked sadly at her and for the first time in her life, Chloe fully understood what Beca meant when she spoke about how bothering the sad looks were. Nevertheless, she had gotten all out and now more calmed, got up and looked at Jesse "Where's my baby? I need to take care of him."

"He's being well taken care of by his grandma" Sophie stated answering before Jesse and pushed her softly back to sit in the steps, kneeling beside Aubrey in front of George and her. Jesse stood behind his wife and Gwen went to sit on Chloe's other side "Listen" she stroke Chloe's cheek lovingly "the children are all thrilled to spend time all together, and it's summer and nobody has nothing more important that this to do, and you have a whole family looking after you, your children, and Beca, for whatever you need, whenever you need. We can't understand what all of that is like, but we'll all be here anyway, and if you can't sleep then I'll personally lay with you all night making sure nightmares stay the hell away from my sister. And we are gonna stay until we see you two can go on on your own, and don't even argue, because that's what family does. Understood?" Chloe nodded "Don't worry about Noah, he was just hungry, he isn't crying anymore, and he's just a happy sleeping little mouse right now, so go, get dressed, and I'll take Alan and you to the hospital so you can be with your wife."

"But my kids..."

"Your kids will understand that their momma needs you more right now than they do" Aubrey said in a sweet tone.

"Plus, they'll sleep until dawn and then go play with all their cousins and friends and forget about everything" Gwen added "they're gonna be having too much fun."

"Micah has his mother's inner clock and will be awake before ten" Chloe stated "but he will only want breakfast and his dinosaurs. They're all in his bookshelf, organized by name alphabetically, and he won't want it disorganized." George smiled.

"We all have kids, he'll be fine with the coolest uncles and aunts in the world" he said. Chloe smiled.

"Thank you." Chloe managed a tiny smile, and left.


	14. Chapter 14

_Sweet and tough chapter_ _sorry for the delays, all schedules, explanations, and stuff is in my blog justapointinthebechloe_

 **Chapter 14: Meetings.**

It was July 21th and late afternoon, and Beca had been moved to a room for her own in the hospital, which was great, because now Chloe had a 24h pass, Alan a 12h pass, and the others could visit four hours in the morning and six in the afternoon, which wasn't bad at all, even if the kids weren't allowed into the hospital, except for Noah, and only because of the special situation. Beca hadn't really been awake yet, she had only half opened her eyes a couple times or so, and made very small sentences, usually questions: _you alive?_ -to Chloe- _Noah OK? Kids?_. And pretty much that was all. The rest of the time, she slept, and the doctors kept her nutrition in order through the IV in her arm. They had said that because of the pain and the strong medication, the sleeping was expected, and that it'll make her feel better and that she would soon be less and less asleep, as they where medicating her less as her health improved, which was happening. Well, she had developed a small infection due to the poor hygienic conditions during the kidnapping, so the big amount of meds was necessary, and she had big fever sometimes, and sometimes much lower, but it was okay.

It was now past eight and Beca was snuggled under her sheets, sleeping and not moving too much to avoid pain, while Chloe sat on an armchair with her arms placed on the side of the mattress and Beca's right hand between Chloe's hands, as the ginger caressed her arm up and down softly over the mantis and the pale skin, not touching the IV. Alan was sitting in another armchair in the other side of the bed with Noah sleeping in his arms and Sheila sitting in a chair next to them, Jesse and Aubrey where sitting in the side of the empty bed that was beside Beca's bed, Angela and Wyatt were speaking about music or something standing next to Beca's bed, but talking really low so as not to awake her, Chloe's siblings, Cynthia, Grace, Emily, Flo and Stacie were in a couple sofas chatting calmly, and Amy was next to Chloe in a chair. The room was bigger than usual and they weren't uncomfortable.

"Off" Beca muttered suddenly and groaned a bit more stretching her legs and lifting her left arm to brush her eyes before staring blankly at the ceiling, blinking a bit. By then, everyone had become extra quiet and had stood at a certain distance from the bed, but surrounding it. Alan and Sheila were sitting but leaning to the bed, and Alan stroke Beca's shoulder lovingly. Chloe also leaned forward.

"Are you alright babe?" Chloe asked in a tender whisper and Beca nodded leaving her right hand over her belly carefully and looking at her wife with a small frown.

"Water, please?" she asked, and Chloe nodded taking a glass from the nightstand, filling it with water from a bottle, and helping Beca drink it "Better?"

"Yeah" Beca lied against the pillows again "Hi" she added with a tiny smile, looking at everyone.

"How are you feeling shorty?" Amy asked "Gave us all a good scare."

"Not bigger than the one I took" Beca replied jokingly, and coughed to clear her voice "I'm pretty good, actually, I think the fever went down a bit. Not so tired, and I can feel my mind clearer than before" she said, and Chloe grinned "Also, nothing hurts. So... I heard I have a new son?"

"You do" Chloe nodded.

"You want to meet him?" Alan asked, lifting the baby a bit "conveniently, he just woke up." Beca smiled and nodded, so Alan stood with the baby and sat beside Beca on the side of the bed, moving Noah into Beca's arms.

Noah yawned and Beca raised her eyebrows, her eyes filling instantly with tears and a tiny grin appearing. She was seeing for the first time a baby she birthed two days prior, so being emotional was an understatement, and she held the baby against her chest with her right arm and caressed her tiny face and body with the left hand, that Chloe had freed from the IV by disconnecting the tube from the IV just like a nurse taught her that morning.

"Is he healthy and good?" Beca asked looking at Chloe, who stared at them with her eyes watered too.

"Doctors said he was very healthy. Also, he barely cries, so is a true angel" Chloe replied.

Beca nodded and kept her eyes on Noah.

"Hello handsome" she whispered removing his cap to stroke his bare had a bit "I'm Beca and I'm your momma you know? Sorry we haven't met earlier, but it turns out, this one had quite a fight to keep you safe, so you better keep me in that tiny brain of yours." She rubbed her eyes to keep them dry and grinned at the baby, who was trying to eat one of her fingers "I love you so much Noah... please tell me he wasn't born at that freaking hell of a place." She added looking at Chloe.

"No, he was born here, in the OR. I swear" she smiled, and Beca grinned harder.

"And his siblings like him?"

"They love him" she emphasized "I have to drag them out of our bedroom when is his nap time."

"Good" Beca sniffled and smiled bouncing the baby, who was staring at her, a bit in her arms "You're so perfect Noah. Look at that nose uh? And those chubby cheeks, I bet you're already Chubs the Second."

"And you win" George joked nodding.

"Can he stay tonight?" she asked pouting at Chloe.

"Aw, I'm afraid not babe, they'll kick him out" Chloe replied with a sad face "But they can bring him here in the morning."

"Yeah" Alan nodded "We'll bring him here in the second visiting hours start again."

"Okay" Beca sadly surrendered and stared at the newborn, who was still playing with her thumb in his mouth.

"I think he's a bit hungry" Jesse commented.

"I can't breastfeed him right?" Beca asked "Even if I had milk -because of how the labor was, her body hadn't reacted yet and produced milk the few times they had checked- I'm on meds, right?"

"No, the doc said the meds were special so they wouldn't affect the baby at all" Chloe replied "and I already asked if with the fever and all it was safe and he said it was alright. So you can try."

"Okay. I think I do have milk by now so... do you wanna try kiddo? I assure you whatever I give you it'll be better than artificial crap" Beca joked at the kid and maneuvered to expose the nipple that was closer to his mouth, and helped him get the idea of what he had to do. It took a while because he had never been breastfeed in his forty eight hours of life, but he finally started lactating and Beca smiled a bit caressing his cheek and managing to keep a sob low.

"That's better eh, kid?" Stacie joked.

The baby kept anxiously eating for a long time, with a hand over Beca's boob, and after some time, his eyes started closing until he fell asleep, so Beca took her nipple out of his mouth, put her pajama over her boob again, cleaned his tiny lips with her thumb, and snuggled him carefully against her to keep him comfy. Chloe got up from the chair and sat on the bed beside Beca surrounding her with an arm around her back, kissing her temple, and rubbing a hand over Beca's arm lovingly while keeping her other hand on Noah.

"He's very lucky to have you uh?" Chloe whispered pressing her lips against Beca's head.

"I'm very lucky to have him" Beca whispered back hoarsely leaning onto Chloe's shoulder very carefully while still rocking the baby a bit, even though he was completely asleep "How are Beth, Micah and Kai doing?"

"They're good, they're having a hell of a summer with all their best buddies there, and the whole families, Micah even said yesterday that it was almost like Christmas." Chloe replied "But they miss you a lot, and until today that I'm staying here, they have been keeping your side of the bed warm. They'll probably go back there tonight anyway, they're like squirrels making noise and sleeping all together." Beca grinned.

"I miss them a lot too" Beca whispered sniffling "They fucking had no right to do this to us Chlo. No right."

"I know" Chloe knew she referred to the men that put her there and not the kids "But you'll be back home real soon okay?"

"But I wanna be home now, having dinner with my family and not here all sick and angry" Beca protested like if she was one of their toddlers. Chloe turned Beca's face to a side, cleaning her tears with her sleeve, and then kissed her in the lips.

"You're gonna be okay. And we'll help you, and you'll be home having dinner with all of us soon. But know, you gotta get better, alright? Remember at least you're alive babe."

"I know" Beca looked back to their newborn "By the way, how's your eye? Did you got a concussion? I swear if the damn bastard seriously hurt you I'll..."

"My eye is good, and fortunately for me after all our ups and downs my head has become pretty strong, so it was all okay. Really, I checked. And I don't think you'll have to worry about those two anymore." Chloe replied.

"How's that?" Beca asked.

"Because I made sure they never bothered our family anymore" Chloe replied "I killed them right after you collapsed."

"You did what?" Beca looked at her surprised "Seriously? How's that? What happened?"

"What did you think happened?" Chloe inquired smiling.

"I guess I thought you held on for enough time, and then police arrived and arrested them and got me here real fast" Beca shrugged.

"Well, it wasn't like that really" Chloe said, being the first time she and Chloe really spoke to each other since the 19th, when Noah was born "Remember I took the stick from that curtain?" Beca nodded "when they cut you and you fainted, I got such a high dose of adrenaline I just took the stick and hit the crazy ex doc with it as hard as possible in the head and knocked him out, and then I saw the other crazy dude was trying to take his gun out again, so I hit him in the hand and the gun fell, so I took it and shot him twice in the chest. Then, I heard sirens so I checked if they were dead, which they were, wrapped a sheet nicely around your wound, and ran to get help, and they got you here, and soon after, Noah was born. Around this hour actually" she realized looking at her watch.

"Remind me to never offend you ladies" Cynthia joked.

"The funny thing is you bother us and you may get a slap and not too much, but you bother family, and you better run" Beca said smiling proudly at Chloe "I'm pretty proud hon, I already knew you were a badass, but that's high level badass. Are you OK with murderer?"

"No, but I'm perfectly fine with protecting my family, so my conscience is in peace" Chloe smiled a bit "they didn't even charged me. Some stupid dude tried, but it was pretty clear that would've been a pretty stupid move. So if law doesn't say I did something wrong, then I definitely did nothing wrong."

"That's right" Beca grinned kissing her in the lips "thanks luck I married a damn lion."

"Thanks luck? What kind of crap is that?" Chloe joked grinning amused.

"Well, I'm surely not thanking God for anything ever again, don't know why I did before if I'm agnostic anyway. Although now that I think about it, I may become an atheist because what kind of fucking God allows crap like that to happen?"

"You want the biological response, the catholic one, the Buddhist one...?" Wyatt joked a bit "You know my father used to be a theologian, all theories you can imagine I've heard of." Beca showed a tiny side smile.

"I think I have my own answers and it was more of a theoretical question, but thanks" she replied and looked down at Noah again. The boy had the eyes close, and his long eyelashes were showing, his lips closed forming kind of a pout, his chin forming a tiny ball, and his cheeks chubby and a bit rosy. He seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully and contently, with his little bears t-shirt between which and the diaper, what was left of the umbilical cord stoke out.

"How're you feeling?" Chloe asked tenderly stroking her shoulder.

"Better" Beca replied rubbing Noah's cheek with her thumb and looked up to Chloe "Any chance you could seep Beth in one day?"

"I doubt it honey, it's already surprising they let Noah" Chloe kissed her temple.

"Yeah..." Beca shrugged "but we could call them later, right?" she added with a hopeful glance and Chloe smiled and nodded.

"Sure, they'll love that" Beca smiled and pressed her lips against Chloe's.

It was already a bit late, and not much after visiting hours were over, and Alan also decided to leave too so Noah could go back to his crib, much to Beca's dismay. After Beca's doctor came to check on her patient, Chloe changed into her pajamas and sat beside Beca on her bed, letting the smaller girl support the back of her head in her chest while she put a hand on Beca's forehead stroking her head tenderly and with the other hand caressed her arm.

"The fever is a bit up again" Chloe murmured and Beca nodded "Do you still wanna call them?"

"Please? It's not even ten yet, they should be awake" Beca begged. Chloe nodded calling her father with her cell "Dad hey, could you put me with my kiddos? Beca wants to hear them. Thanks!"

"Mamma?" Beth asked, Chloe put the cell on speaker.

"Hi pretty girl? Are the three of you there?" Chloe asked.

"Yes!" Micah and Kammy yelled.

"I've got a surprise for you."

"Hi babies!" Beca saluted feeling her eyes fill with tears again. The kids went crazy and started yelling excitedly.

"Momma!" Micah yelled "How are you mommy"

"I'm pretty good, you?" Beca smiled letting Chloe clean her cheeks with a thumb.

"Good too!" he replied excitedly.

"Miss you!" Kai said.

"I miss you all too sweetie. A lot" Beca said.

"Are you crying mommy?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, but from happiness to hear you. Hey, tell me what you've done today!"

"We played soccer" Micah said.

"There was a riot" Beth continued.

"A riot?" Chloe and Beca asked at the same time.

"Yeah" the kids giggled "all the kids were playing against uncle Cormac. And he was winning, so we all decided it would be easier if we just jumped on him."

"And we took his pants" Kai said giggling and her siblings laughed.

"We hugged his legs" Beth explained "and he fell on the grass! And we made a human mountain on him and tickled him until he was begging from laughter!"

"That sounds fun!" Beca grinned.

Four days. Four days with their sleepless nights filled with nightmares. That's how much longer Beca held on without being too dramatic with how much she really missed her family, but of course, between not feeling great, being in a very hated place, having the typical mother-who-just-birthed-a-child set of hormones and _my baby is suffering from not being with me_ worries and feelings, and standing _incompetent_ doctors, four days after that phone call she was depressed and angry, which finally turned her into a sobbing mess between Chloe's arms, one late afternoon after spending all of her sixth day at the hospital particularly quiet and grumpy, but mostly in silence or speaking very low when asked a question, while Aubrey, Sophie, Angela, Wyatt, Gwen, Cynthia, Emily and Stacie, were visiting and telling them all about how that afternoon, just some hours ago, Kamara had had a nightmare during nap time and had spent an hour crying in Aubrey's arms until she fell asleep again. Chloe hadn't been there for sleep since Beca was in a room, but she went every night with maybe one exception or two to tuck the kids to bed and stay with them during dinner, and then she always went for a bit after lunch and after breakfast to check on them, but hadn't been there when that happened.

And since only Aubrey and Chloe had seen Beca cry for real ever, and the rest had never seen her anything else than sob a bit -and that had been during that week- when Beca really broke down and started very suddenly crying like there was no tomorrow, they were quite impressed. They had just been talking about Kamara, replying Chloe's numerous questions about the event, when it happened, and Chloe instantly wrapped her arms tightly around her wife, that held onto her like if her life depended on it. The day before her infection had healed completely, and her father had just taken Noah to breathe some fresh air in the garden.

Chloe just kept hugging her and letting her cry her eyes out loudly, until it became too quiet sobs and sniffles.

"Can we talk a bit now babe?" Chloe whispered tenderly caressing her hair with one hand and her back with another, sitting on the side of the bed facing Beca and hugging her, her back to the others.

"What it is to talk, Chlo?" Beca asked, pulling apart a bit, with her voice raspy from all the crying "I'm hurt, and I miss my children, which can only hurt me more. Children that, by the way, don't have more than five years, one of them not even three months, and they don't even have you there all the time, so they are practically orphans right now. And if that wasn't enough, Kai still has nightmares, and if that, if all of that wasn't enough to make me cry Chloe, then you can count the fact that we got to have our asses bitten by psychopaths, _again_ , who tried to kill us, _again_ , when we, _again_ , have done nothing to deserve any of this crap in this whole last year" she spoke calmly, sniffling from time to time, and staring at her hands in her lap like a kid "So I don't wanna hear anymore crap like _it's okay Beca_ , or, _it'll be fine soon Beca_ , because I don't really believe any of it. Because one, is not okay, and for me it comes better to just accept it and deal with it, than cheating myself, and two, it won't be fine soon. Soon, what will hopefully happen is that I'll get to go home, and yeah, cheers for me coming back to the family, there's nothing I could want more right now, but I will still be angry, and hurt, and traumatized, and for more fun, I get to share it with my family, and let's thank heavens if our kids turn out to be normal teenagers and not drug addicts or another something dark and twisty. So no, I'm not okay, and I doubt there's any talking left to do."

Chloe sighed and took Beca's hands in hers and pressed her forehead against Beca's.

"What can I do to make you feel any better?" she simply asked sweetly.

"I don't know" Beca shook her head and looked at her "I guess I'll just have to shut up and wait a few days more until I can go home. And then, I'll stop and figure out what to do next with myself. Who knows, maybe I just need nice and normal sleep."

"Maybe" Chloe shrugged and couldn't resist the urge to hug her again. Beca just let her be "but just so you know, we've gotten ourselves out of worse things than this. We'll do it again. And I assure you no matter how we are or even what we do, our children will still be amazing teenagers one day, they'll get their asses in trouble sometimes as every teen does, and they'll probably want to fix everything in the world, but they'll get through it perfectly well just like we did. They won't be dark and twisty, or drug addicts, or anything bad, because they are ours, is that clear missy?" Beca sighed and nodded, closing her eyes on Chloe's shoulder "By the way, I'm gonna keep saying it's all gonna be okay because I believe it. Because you taught me that."

Beca pulled a bit back looking weirdly at her, and then gave her a kiss on the lips.

"You're the best I have, you know?" Beca whispered with her forehead pressed against Chloe's and her eyes closed, and Chloe grinned.

"I know."


	15. Chapter 15

_Wrecking ball of a chapter!. Thanks for the reviews. For any info about when I will post and stuff, visit my tumblr justapointinthebechloe_

 **Chapter 15: Home again.**

Another week passed before doctors even starting considering letting Beca go back home, but, realizing it would be good for her mood, and consequently for her health, they let her go. It was now July 5th 2027, and Aubrey, Jesse and Chloe took her and little Noah back home, and before opening the main door to their house, Chloe stared at her very nervous wife.

"Baby, give me Noah" Beca stared at her questioningly and Chloe smiled sweetly "Our kids are going to jump on you the second I open the door, you'll run out of hands." Chloe nodded and handed Noah, who was wrapped in a blanket and sleeping, to her wife.

As Chloe predicted, the second the door was opened, they heard running and, seconds later, Beca sat on the ground sobbing and grinning while their three older children hugged her tightly, yelling how much they missed her, or how was she, or whatever they had been doing. Carefully so as not to hurt the baby, Chloe knelt and joined the big family hug.

"Be careful with momma's tummy" Chloe reminded the kids with a bit of severity in her voice "Are you okay love?" Chloe asked kissing Beca's cheek.

"Yeah…" Beca sniffled, but smiled, kissing and hugging their kids.

After half an hour of excited round of stories about everything Beca had missed, the brunette found herself sitting in the living room, on the puzzle, colorful, carpet, that they had for the kids, as her five year old Beth brushed her hair tenderly, four year old Micah sat next to her telling her all about some new dinosaurs his family had bought him, and two year old Kamara sat on her lap playing with the rings on Beca's hand, that was on the kid's thigh, while with her other arm the mother kept the sleeping Noah leaned against her chest. Some of the other children were also around, and the adults were close too. Chloe sat with her legs crossed in front of Beca and Kamara, smiling just contemplating her wife interact with their children.

"You have such pretty hair momma" Beth was saying, braiding Beca's hair.

"Thank you sweetheart, you have such a pretty hair too" Beca smiled turning a bit to look at her eldest.

"Beth did her sister's hair today with me" Anna Beale said with a smile from the sofa, and Beca grinned proudly. She had taken weeks to learn how to do their black daughters' hair, and there Beth was, learning in a matter of a couple years with only five, and Beca could see it was very well done.

"Oh, really? I would've never said such a young toddler did this!" Beca said exaggerating and making Beth giggle "Are you going to be a hairdresser princess?"

"I'm gonna be a dancer!" Beth yelled, and Beca giggled "And I'm gonna study at Barden, and I'm gonna be a Bella!" she said excitedly.

"That's awesome!" Chloe said just as excitedly.

"Sh!" Kai said putting a finger in front of her mouth and then pointing at Noah "Wake baby!"

"Kai's right" Micah said calmly "you're gonna wake Noah up."

"You're both right" Beca said "Princesses, can you leave me go put your brother in his crib so he can sleep in peace?"

"Can I go with you?" Beth asked, and Beca nodded standing up and accommodating the baby in her arms.

Chloe also followed, and soon, Beca was carefully wrapping a blanket around the sleeping kid, that slept deeply lying inside his crib.

"Good night hobbit" Beth said smiling as Chloe pulled her up to kiss his brother's cheek.

"Sleep tight honey" Chloe kissed the little boy too "We'll be downstairs" she added looking at Beca, knowing she would want to spend some time more with their youngest.

Beca nodded and supported the side of her face on her arm, that was over the crib's banister, while with her other hand, she tenderly stroke her son's features, his pink and chubby cheeks, the ball of his chin, or his not very bushy eyebrows, then she adjusted the kid's bonnet and blanket, and kissed his cheek.

"Sleep well my love" Beca whispered observing the kid's little chest rise up and down. Then, she made a monumental mental effort to go away. Right when she was about to close hers and Chloe's bedroom door, their cat, _Avery_ , rubbed herself against Beca's legs. Beca leaned and pet the cat "Hey buddy, I missed you too. Find me if the baby there cries, will you?" she had already been greeted by their dog, _Billie-Jean_ , but _Avery_ was much harder to find, as she was usually cuddled under some bed, inside some furniture, or wherever. If there was a tiny, warm hole, in the house, _Avery_ would find it. When she was getting up from petting the cat, she felt a sharp pain on her abdominal, bandaged wound, and grunted moving a hand to her belly and another to the wall to support herself "Alright" she whispered through grilled teeth, as the pain went away. She pulled her t-shirt up to check the bandage and, seeing everything seemed fine, she went downstairs.

With a sigh, Beca let herself fall on their sofa next to her mother in law, and Kai quickly climbed on her grandmother's lap putting her legs on Beca's thigh and taking her hand again to play with her rings.

"You like my rings, uh?" Beca smiled at her youngest girl.

"Hey Beca do you want water or something?" Stacie asked from the entry of the kitchen.

"No, thanks Stacie, I'm fine" Beca replied. Anna Beale smiled and massaged the back of Beca's neck, causing the brunette to look at her with a grateful smile "Thanks for taking care of my family, Anna. I'm sure Chloe had it so much easier with everybody here helping out."

"Well, we're all family sweetie" Anna said "that's what family does." Beca nodded.

"I wish I could have the Mitchells here though" Beca said "I just miss them so much."

"It's normal, it's okay" Anna stroke her cheek "We're here anytime, alright?" Beca nodded.

"Kai" Chloe appeared and gestured with her hand for the kid to come "Come on, children's dinner is ready, you can play with the others later."

"Are we letting them be in bed later than nine now?" Beca asked watching the kid run to her mother.

"The youngest ones always fall asleep before nine, and the others can go later, it's summer, they don't have to get up early" Chloe smiled blowing a kiss to Beca and went to Kamara to the table.

After the kids had had dinner and were chilling in their bedrooms, and Beca had breastfeed Noah and then put him back to sleep, it was time for the adults to have their dinner. With so much people in the house was hard to make space for everyone, but somehow they managed.

"Where's my sister?" Beca asked looking at her father.

"She's staying with her best friend, but we call her everyday and she's fine. She asked about you too" Alan said.

"Dad, you can't leave your twelve year old alone in Atlanta and stay so far away for half a month" Beca scolded him "You should take a plane tomorrow and go with her."

"She's okay Bec, I've got other daughters to take care of" Alan argued.

"This one is in her thirties now, and look how many people there is to worry about me, so you can save it" Beca said.

"I know, but none of them is your dad, so…" Alan shrugged "We'll stay just a few days more though."

"You better not lie to me" Beca smiled a bit, eating some.

"Did Noah eat properly?" Chloe asked sitting beside Beca.

"Yeah, the kid was hungry but not anymore" Beca replied "He's sleeping again. Hey Wyatt, please tell me my employees are still happy with their boss going away every now and then." She added with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, don't worry about them" Wyatt smiled "Actually the other day, Randal from public relations asked me if you had taken a vacation."

"What did you reply?" Wyatt's wife asked.

"That she had taken a vacation from stupidity, but would be back home."

"I wish I could stay away from stupidity, but apparently it follows" Beca shrugged "How is everything going in LA, Angie?"

"Good, the job is good, and everything is good. Our old company dissolved, did you hear?"

"Yes, I got a mail some months ago from one of the co-founders" Beca replied "I could see it coming, everyone wanted to do their own things."

Everyone found someone to talk to and after eating just enough, Beca lied back on her seat with a hand on her belly. She had a wound that went from hip bone to hip bone, and then another one that was smaller and that the doctors had had to make with other purposes, and she had she didn't even know how many stitches, so she had to be careful.

"You fine?" Chloe asked leaning to kiss her.

"Yeah" Beca nodded "You?"

"Indeed" Chloe kissed her again.

"Guys, you realized this year we'll have to suspend the summer trip, right?" Stacie said suddenly.

"Why?" Fat Amy asked.

"Well, Beca just had major surgery and a tiny cute newborn, Flo will be in labor any time soon and apparently here, because there's no way we're letting you travel with that belly" she looked at Flo, who smiled. She had already manifested she didn't care if her first son was born in Norfolk "CR and Grace also have a newbie, so…" she shrugged.

"No, you guys go and have fun, for three couples that miss it, is okay" Grace said.

"Yeah, but we want to see the photos, they're always hilarious" Chloe added.

"Alright then" Stacie accepted "But you'll be missed."

"Cut the crap Stacie" Beca joked and giggled "you won't think the same when you're in some Jacuzzi in Germany's spas." Stacie laughed and nodded.

"Mommies?" Micah had come and reached Beca and Chloe "Noah's awake, but he's not crying."

"Were you visiting him or something?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, the cat was locked inside and scratching the door, so I opened it and then though about taking a look and see him, and he's just awake lying there without doing anything. Is that normal?" Beca stood up.

"It is honey, but I'm gonna go take a look alright?" Beca said, and quickly climbed upstairs. Just like Beth said, the newborn was lying in his crib just contemplating the universe. Beca smiled hugging the kid, adjusting his blanket and bonnet, and going back downstairs.

"He good?" Micah asked when he saw her mother go back and sit again with the newborn in her arms "Is he hungry or something?"

"He's okay honey" Beca said "You see? He's just awake because he has slept a lot and now he's bored, is nothing bad."

Micah stood next to Beca's chair to look closely at the boy.

"How long will it take for him to do stuff? Like playing, or swimming, or running" he asked.

"It'll take a long time yet buddy, he just arrived the world. Don't you remember how it was with Kai?" Beca smiled at the boy.

"But she was bigger when she came."

"True" Beca nodded "Well, maybe by the time your next birthday comes up, he'll be walking around, talking and playing."

"Okay" Micah accepted.

"In the meantime buddy, you have a ton of sisters and cousins to play with" George intervened.

"But I want my little bro…" Micah argued "And I want him to like dinosaurs, not dolls."

"I can't promise anything Micah" Beca kissed him on the forehead "It takes patience and a lot of time to make a good bro, Micah. So you just wait and you'll see."

"Okay… but in the meantime, can we play pillow fight? Or maybe some dancing game, or something… I miss playing with you" he looked at Beca with a pout.

"Oh honey, I miss it too, and I would, I want to, but you see, if got a little problem and I just can't, but just for a few weeks." Beca explained pulling her t-shirt a bit up, and when the kid saw the bandage, his eyes widened "Don't freak out okay? It's just a cut, but it hurts, so we'll wait until it heals, right?" Micah just nodded.

"I'm gonna play with my nodosaurid" the boy said then, leaving. Beca looked at Chloe in confusion.

"Noro what?" Beca asked.

"Dinosaurs" Chloe smirked and Beca nodded.

"I don't know if I should be frightened by the fact that he has that obsession with dinosaurs…" Beca commented.

"Well it could be cannabis" Aubrey intervened "So consider yourself lucky."

Beca nodded and looked at their wide awake newborn, who stared at her intently.

"We are going to sleep" Beca announced.

"But he's quite awake" Chloe observed ticking the baby a bit with a smirk.

"I know" Beca stood up "I'll make him fall asleep. Night people!"

Once in her pajamas, Beca laid on the bed, beside Noah, who was in the middle of the bed. She tucked the sheets over both of them and started singing to the baby very quietly while stroking his face and little body a bit, seeing how his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

When Chloe went to bed later that night, she smiled seeing Beca in a fetal position with Noah, in a very protective way. Chloe laid beside them, kissed their son, and threw an arm over him and Beca, falling asleep shortly after. When Beca woke up in the morning, she saw Chloe in her pajamas, knelt on the bed and leaning over Noah, who was doing some noise that seemed to be a try of giggling as his mother made faces and noises, and farted on his exposed belly with her mouth. Chloe was also giggling, enjoying the gestures and expressions of their youngest bundle of joy. Beca smiled sleepily observing them, and Noah rose his little hands to Chloe's face when the ginger started moving her nose playfully.

"Who's the most handsome boy ever? Who? You are!" Chloe pressed on his belly with her index and he kicked the air doing noises "You are! Yey!"

"Can this be our life forever" Beca whispered, and Chloe smiled looking at her and kissing her.

"Well, we can keep ourselves in our happy bubble until he starts demanding condoms" Chloe joked, kissing their son again and then Beca again "Come on, let's go get breakfast, the kids must be hungry."

"Give me the hobbit" Beca asked rising her arms towards their baby, and Chloe grinned handing her little Noah "Hello munchkin" Beca smiled at her son holding him in her arms, his eyes almost closed, his tiny arms with his tinny hands, his reddish skin, his very dark hair pointing all directions… he was the best baby ever.

One noon several days later, their visitors were in the Mitchell household, and they all were hanging out in their garden, as grandpa Charlie was in charge of the barbecue, although many others were helping. Beca was sitting on the grass, breastfeeding Noah under a tree, when Micah came running.

"Momma, can we go play the piano?" he asked.

"I'm busy now sweetie, I have to breastfeed your brother" Beca said with a smile looking at the toddler.

"But you already did that like five minutes ago!"

"We can go later sweetie."

"I want now!" it was common for her children to be loud because, let's face it, they were Beale too, but when Beca heard such anger in her son's voice, which was really uncommon because he was such a sweetheart, she stared at him cautiously, somehow surprised, and when she saw the frown her son had, she frowned too.

"Noah is almost done" she said looking down at the baby "If you want to play the piano with me, you can wait five minutes. If you can't wait, then I'm sorry but I'm not going to let your brother starve just because you feel bossy today."

Micah huffed angrily and, quite pissed off, he left somewhere else. When they were eating in a big picnic they had prepared on the grass, Noah was in one of her aunts' arms, so Beca went with a little smile to Micah, who sat a bit farther away from the group, playing with a bunch of his dinosaurs. He usually would rather play alone his own games, than do the sporty ones his friends and cousins did.

"Hey teddy bear, do you want to go play piano now?" Beca asked squatting next to him and putting a hand on his hair tenderly. He moved to get her off him and Beca frowned pulling her hand back.

"I'm playing with my diplodocus, my mamenchisaurus, my ankylosaurus, and their friends" Micah said, and it wasn't in any sweet or neutral way, but like soft snapping mostly. Beca nodded. It was amazing how the boy couldn't say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, but he could say all those names.

"Can I play with you?" Beca asked.

"Only experts in dinosaurs can, if not they won't feel understood and they will get mad" Micah said, still not bothering to look at her.

"Oh" Beca nodded "Hey teddy bear, do you want to talk?"

"I'm playing now. I'm busy."

"Are you angry with me Micah?" Beca asked "Come on, you're my son, I want us to be okay."

"I'm okay" Micah simply said "And you have your son over there" he motioned with his head towards his aunt Hannah.

Beca raised her eyebrows and felt horrible inside. He was talking with such simplicity, any feeling in his voice, just like if he was stating there was a sun in the sky.

"You are my son too, Micah. And I love you just as much as I love him, you know that, right? I've missed you, and I'm sorry if I hurt you somehow, but I didn't mean to. I miss playing with you, you know?"

"Liar" Micah said in a singing voice. Beca was speechless, and her eyes were glassy.

"I would never lie to you."

"Some days ago, you promised you would play with me after dinner, but instead you sent me to bed saying it was too late. The other day, you were supposed to play piano with me, but the baby started crying and you left and didn't come back until it was already dinner time. Or the other day, when you were going to take us to the park, but instead you went to take a nap with the baby. Do you want me to keep going?" He asked.

"Micah…" Beca sighed "You are the second. You know taking care of a newborn takes a lot of work, and I don't want to justify myself because I know I haven't paid you the proper attention lately, but you've always been happier on your own, and now you suddenly want so much from me, and I should be able to give it to you, I'm your mom and I want to, but you have to understand that Noah requires a lot of attention too, he can't do anything on his own, and your mom and I have to help, but your mom can't breastfeed him so that's on me" Beca explained "And you need to remember I'm wounded, and I still need to rest a lot and many times I barely get to attend Noah, and I want to attend you too but sometimes I have to step back and let your mamma do your stuff for me. I try, but sometimes I'm just exhausted Micah, I'm sorry. I really am trying."

A few seconds of silence passed, and Micah finally stood with his toys.

"I'm going to play in my bedroom, and you're not welcomed there" he said, leaving.

Speechless, Beca dragged her feet to her wife, that was with the other adults eating while all the children ran around and played, and when a sniffle escaped, all the adults looked at her. Chloe was very concerned and put an arm around her wife when she sat with her.

"What's wrong? Weren't you going to play piano with Micah?" Chloe asked.

"Micah's busy playing with his dinosaurs" Beca said staring at her feet.

"But he's been begging all week…"

"That's the problem Chloe" Beca said frustrated "that he's been after me to do one thing or another all week and I've barely paid attention to him because of Noah or my own exhaustion." Chloe bit her lip and nodded.

"What happened with our little bear?" Anna asked sitting close.

"He's angry at me" Beca explained "Like really, really angry. He wouldn't even look at me, he said he was busy playing with his dinosaurs, then I offered to play with him, and he told me only experts in dinosaurs could because if not the toys would get angry at me for not feeling understood. Then I tried to make amends, but he basically told me my son was here, referring to Noah, like he wasn't mine, and I told him I missed playing with me, and he called me a liar and exposed a whole bunch of things I said I would do and never did in the past week because of Noah or exhaustion" she explained. The others looked more and more surprised which each word.

"That doesn't sound like Micah at all" Chloe said.

"I know, and you should've heard him Chloe, he was talking like if he was telling me the weather you know?! Emotionless, cold, sharp… He wouldn't even let me touch him!" Beca shrugged "And that wasn't all. I tried to apologize and told him I love him, I said how sorry I was, I tried to make him understand I'm trying but it's difficult, and he shut up only to, a bit later, tell me he was going to play in his room and that I wasn't welcomed there. It was like talking to a stranger, and a teen, he's four, how can he even be like that? I mean, how can a four year old stop being sweet and adorable and be that?" Beca sniffed again and Chloe stared at her in a mix of concern, sadness, and disbelief.

"I'm gonna go fix this" Chloe said standing up stroking Beca's cheek tenderly.

Chloe took less than ten minutes to come, and when she did, she didn't look much better.

"So?" Aubrey asked as Chloe sat down.

"He was busy playing, so I tried to have his attention, and instead, he snapped and said he didn't want to talk to anyone, that he wanted to be alone. So I thought maybe I could just do like with you" Chloe said looking at Beca "and I just sat there for awhile until he was ready. Then he came and sweetly he told me he loved me but that he would rather be alone, I tried for him to talk to me, or cry, or I don't know, whatever he wanted, but he wouldn't, and he ended up throwing me out."

"What?" Beca rubbed her eyes "That's it, I'll talk to him."

"He won't let you in Beca" Chloe reminded her.

"Then I won't get in" Beca said "Chloe if I knew how to hurt him that much, I gotta know how to fix it too, right?"

Beca knocked Micah's door and called him, with any answer, which made her open the door and peek in. Then, she found her son asleep on the floor, surrounded by toys. Beca smiled and carefully, she took Micah up and to his bed, and feeling a bit of pain on her wounds, she laid beside him stroking his hair and cheeks tenderly. He started waking up, and when he saw her, his expression instantly turned into anger and he pushed Beca so strongly, she almost fell off the bed, but she sat on Micah's chair.

"I don't wanna see you! You're not my mother!" Micah yelled angrily standing on the bed. Beca was done with that crap, having her son being so much like her gave her certain understanding of the situatiation.

"I am your mother Micah" she stated "Even more, I'm your biological mother, I conceived you, I carried you for many months inside of me, you grew and were formed inside of me, and then I pushed you out with a very long labor. I taught you to walk and to play the piano, and your first word was badass, because your mother called me that very often" she explained serious and not letting emotions take over "I've raised you along with mamma, I've breastfeed you, I've feed you, tuck you into bed, sang you to sleep, carried you to school and to my work, I even got you into dinosaurs in the first place because Jurassic Park is one of my all time favorite movies and I used to watch it while being pregnant with you, and then you caught me watching it once when you were ten months or so and you woke up crying and fell asleep in my arms as we watched the movie, and in your first birthday I gave you the T-Rex. So don't you dare think for a second that I'm not your mom, because I am one of them."

Micah sat looking angry and not looking at her not for once.

"You aren't if I don't want" Micah said.

"Why wouldn't you? Because I disappointed you one week? What about four years of good stuff?" Beca asked "I mean, I know this past couple of years have suck a bit, and there has been a lot of drama and things to worry about, and I know things haven't been easy and no kid should go through what you and your sibling have but… we've still had a lot of fun right? Your mamma and I Micah, we love you so much it's crazy, we've gone to hell and back for you all, and we've made a great family. And sometimes it's really hard and it doesn't matter how much we try, or I try in this case, but sometimes as much as you want to do things, you can't and it's frustrating but at least we go again and keep trying. It's like when you learned to walk, you wanted it so much, but you just couldn't, and you wouldn't have made it if you had given up." Beca tried to explain, but the kid was ignoring her "Your mother and I have been through really bad stuff, we almost broke up many times you know?" Micah looked at her for a second, and then to his shoes again "But we didn't, because we love each other too much, and we wanted to keep trying. My life would suck without her, and without a single one of you. You and your sibling are all our kids, but you are all very different and complex, and it's amazing because you're our own selves, and give us different things and different kinds of joy, and any of you can be substituted. Not because we choose to have Noah it means that you aren't enough, or that we want to substitute you or that we don't love you, it means that we have such great three kids, that we decided we wanted more greatness, and we wanted you to have a buddy to play with."

"If that was true, you wouldn't ignore me."

"I would never ignore you, or any of my kids for that matter. I'm always paying attention, even when I'm lying watching a movie, Micah. The only reason I haven't been as attentive is because I thought you'll be okay having so many people to look after you, I thought that would give me the opportunity to rest more and focus on Noah. And I'm sorry I didn't realize I'm irreplaceable too and that you wanted me and not anyone else, I'm sorry I made you feel like that" Beca said kindly "It's just very difficult Micah. I want to do so much with you all, but because I'm wounded, sometimes I just feel so bad that all I can do is try not to be a weight more to your mother. And when I feel better, and many times even when I don't, Noah needs food, or won't stop crying no matter with mamma does until I pick him up, and it sucks but he only has a month, all he can do is cry and sleep, and it's your mamma and mine's responsibility to make sure he's fine because he can't just talk to us and ask us to do things, and he needs much more from us than any of you, he needs you all too, you know? He's in a very strange place that's new, with people he barely know, and he can't even speak our same language and make himself understood, so I need to help. And if you were that needy, then I would go to do whatever with you even with two broken legs, but I trusted it wouldn't be necessary. But now, I will."

"Save it, I don't need you."

Beca composed a sad smile.

"You will always need your mother, Micah. Believe me, I'm thirty four, I clean my own ass, have my own job, and I'm a mother myself, and no day goes by that I wouldn't give all the money in the world to have my mother back. But I was forced to get used to not having her and going on my own" she shrugged and rubbed her wet eyes "I'm very sorry I upset you so much, that I ruined everything this much, and I will never forgive myself for that. But I hope you do, because I don't want you to wake up one day and realize you missed so much with me and that you can't have it back anymore. It's not worth it baby. In the meantime, I will spend every day trying to fix it, and to be the mother you deserve to have." She looked hopefully at him, but he didn't even flinch. He then moved, but, like if she didn't even exist, went to play with some cars, making the motor noises. Beca nodded for herself and stood up, understanding he needed some time alone. For a kid so young, it was a lot to deal with and he needed his own time and his own way "I'll be around if you need anything. You can come anytime." She said staring at the back of his head before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

She dragged her feet towards the stairs feeling disgusted with herself and upset. At least her father never got her to be that angry with four years old, and she had already screwed up more than he would ever do. She changed her direction and went to the bathroom, cleaning her face. She felt a sharp pain on her belly, so she sat for awhile looking at her bandage to make sure it didn't have blood until it passed, and then she went back downstairs and to the garden. The kids were now in the pool with most of the men except Charles, Alan, George and Jesse, who were with the other girls. Chloe saw her and walked towards her and hugged her, not needing her to say things hadn't gone quite well. Beca felt too drained and disheartened to cry, but she did want to be there so at least her other kids would still feel like she was there.

"Should we get him a psychologist, should I try to speak with him again…?" Chloe was asking after kissing Beca for a bit. Beca shook her head.

"No, I talked with him but I think he needs his own time and figure things on his own. He's too young" Beca replied "I know he'll come find me when he's ready."

"That's good" Chloe said, and Beca nodded.

"Yes, but I still feel awful for having caused this."

"You try your best Beca, it's not your fault you're not okay."

"I know" Beca shrugged, and Chloe took her hand intertwining their fingers, and they walked to the group and sit again. Noah was lying on his back over the blanket they had used for the picnic, and Beca smiled at him.

"Any luck with the midget?" Fat Amy asked.

"I know him, he'll come to me when he's ready" Beca replied "I'm just gonna try harder and be better. Where are our girls?" she asked looking at Chloe.

"They seem to be having a lot of fun" Chloe pointed towards the pool with her head, where Kai was bouncing on Cormac's lap and laughing, and Beth was laughing with the twins.

Beca nodded looking at them and then took Noah in his arms and hugged him close.

"You should go to bed, you look tired" Emily said looking at Beca, who shook her head.

"I can hold on until night. I don't want to give any of the girls a reason to hate me too."

"Micah doesn't hate you, he's just… jealous or something" Jesse intervened. Then, Flo grunted hugging her belly and everyone looked at her.

"Are you okay honey?" Charles asked, but Flo just closed her eyes in pain.

"She's having a contraction!" Stacie said excitedly.

"Am I?" Flo asked when she felt somehow better "Oh my God, I'm so in labor right?"

"Don't panic Flo, it'll still take a long time, maybe a day or two" Ashley said "The first one is always the longest."

"Yeah sweetie, you can relax and just rest and we'll make sure you get proper medical attention when it's needed" Chloe smiled stroking Flo's back.

That night, however, Flo was taken to the hospital and Beca convinced everyone that it was okay to leave her alone with her four children at home. Chloe was very reluctant to do so, but Beca convinced her, saying it was already late and that they would just order pizza and watch a movie before going to sleep. So, that night, Beca dragged herself upstairs feeling the exhaustion and urgent need to rest inside, and walked to the girls' bedroom. She knocked and when the girls said so, she opened the door. Beth was doing their dog's hair, brushing it tenderly, and Kai was drawing. The Swanson's kids were with their parents in the hospital because they were older and some adults would be down in the cafeteria entertaining them.

"Girls, is it okay for you if we order pizza?" Beca asked. The girls were quite enthusiastic about it, and then Beca went to Micah's door. Hearing no response, she opened just enough to see her son putting his pajamas on by himself, which he didn't usually do, and their cat sleeping on his bed "Honey, is it okay for you if we order pizza?" he didn't seem to acknowledge her existence and she wondered how could such a sweet toddler be such an asshole towards his mom "Maybe you want something else?" she hinted. Hearing nothing, she nodded "Okay, pizza it is then." Beca then walked to her own bedroom, took her cell, and called the place. After ordering, she went to the crib, took Noah, and laid on her bed with her back supported on the thousand pillows they had. She freed a boob so Noah could breastfeed, and closed her eyes.

She wanted to cry. Her belly hurt, her emotions were in a continuous rollercoaster between the latest months' events and the having a baby, which was a great game of hormones, her body didn't even belong to herself anymore, she was beyond exhausted, her son hated her, her other son could be traumatized for all she knew, and her girls didn't even bother to ask her to play with them because they could see the tiredness in her eyes. She missed her mother, she missed her whole family, and now that she was back with the family Chloe and she had made, she saw it was like there was something missing. Like she had spent so long away that, even if Chloe had told her everything and the kids did too, it was like she couldn't reconnect with them anymore. She couldn't even reconnect with herself for that matter. She was still traumatized. But she had pushed Chloe to go because she couldn't bear the thought of keeping her wife one more day locked at home because of her, and sinking with her.

When the pizza came, she put Noah to sleep again, and climbed downstairs, where Beth and Kai were already waiting by the door. Beca smiled at them, took some money, and paid the pizza guy before closing the door again, calling Micah down for dinner, and then sending Beth to put some movie in the TV. The girl chose Tarzan, and the three of them sat on the couch with the box of pizza opened on the coffee table and dressed in their pajamas. Micah came a bit later, and sat as far as possible from Beca. Sometime around the end of the movie, Micah left, not replying Beca about where was he going, Kai was asleep against Beca, and Beth asked her mother what was wrong.

"I'm not the best mother, sweetie" was all she replied, with a sad smile, and Beth frowned and argued, but at the end, Beca wasn't even listening. The movie ended, she took the effort of tucking the girls to bed, and then she went to Micah's bedroom and found him asleep. She kissed his forehead and covered him better with the covers "Good night love."

She went back to her bedroom, the whole house dark except for her bedroom, and lied on the bed with Noah and her laptop, and while the baby slept, she watched old videos of her family, videos from when they were alive.

"Are you going to leave me too?" she asked her newborn closing the laptop in front of which she had been silently crying her eyes out "Wait until you're on your twenties at least, okay?" she kissed the boy, put him in his crib, and fell asleep.

In the morning she woke up alone and, not seeing Noah but smelling Chloe's scent on her pillow, she went to the kitchen and found Chloe drinking her morning coffee with her ass against the counter and a look of satisfaction as she watched their three eldest have breakfast in the kitchen island, and she held the fourth one against her chest. She smiled at Beca when she saw her, and Beca walked towards her stopping to kiss her daughters on the way. The twins and Cathy were also kissed on the way. They and their parents, together with Alan and Sheila, were the only ones that hadn't find a hotel and still stayed with them, because they liked to.

"How's Flo?" Beca asked.

"She's good, little Hugo Ramirez was born around three" Chloe said, leaving her mug and taking her cell to show her a picture of a baby with a tiny smile.

"He's handsome" Beca said "When did you come home?"

"Around four I think. Jesse and Aubrey are still sleeping, and your dad and Sheila went to buy the newspaper." Chloe replied, and kissed Noah's head while Beca drank some juice "How did you sleep?"

"Deeply" Beca replied, staring at Micah, who was too focused devouring a pancake.

"Micah, love, don't you wanna give momma a good morning kiss?" Chloe asked. Micah looked at her and her and then at Beca.

"She doesn't deserve it" Micah simply said before shrugging and keep eating. Before neither of his mothers could react, Beth snapped.

"Stop it Micah! Why do you have to be so rude with her? She's our momma!"

"Momma!" Kai added.

"How can you defend her?" Micah yelled angrily "She barely does anything with us! She doesn't love us anymore! She just cares about that baby!"

Beca and Chloe stared speechless in the middle of a wreck of emotions and deep disbelief. They children had always been sweet and nice towards everybody, overprotective between each other, mostly Beth, and they never yelled with anger, and even less at each other. Again, neither of the women had a chance to react before Beth took her glass of water, and threw the water against her brother's face. The boy immediately started crying, Chloe's jaw dropped, and Beca stood speechless. Daniel and Anna looked between Beth and Micah, with expressions of absolute disbelief. Cathy covered her mouth with her tiny hands, and Kai looked at her moms expectantly.


	16. Chapter 16

_So I'm still not gonna upload in a long time but, since this story is already finished I thought maybe I could not study for a bit and just post one chapter as a thank you. You guys have been wonderful… and well, I'm going through hard times but I'll be back. I'm a Frisbee at the end. All reviews I own will be replied when I'm officially back, and in the meantime you guys can find me in justapointinthesky (for all and nothing) or justapointinthebechloe (pitch perfect stuff) and you can chat with me or just send letters._

 **Chapter 16: Beach.**

Chloe was the first one to talk, and when she did, Beca could swear she hadn't seen that anger in her in a very long time.

"That's it! Beth, don't ever, ever do anything against any of your siblings again, do you hear me? Your mother and I do the punishments and the lectures, not any of you! Apologize!" Chloe demanded angrily. Beth looked at her brother with shame written in her face.

"I'm very sorry Micah, I didn't mean to get so angry" Beth said "But you're being a bad son!"

"I'll take care of what your brother does sweetie" Beca stared emotionless at her crying son "Micah, come." The boy just sat crying and looking at Chloe pleadingly.

"Micah, you've crossed the line with this rage, you've gone too far and I can't even believe you can be such a cruel little boy. Go with your mother or I swear to God, I will confiscate all of your toys and send you to summer school until you learn how to behave with the woman who birthed you. Go!" Chloe said, hugging the also crying baby to her chest and staring at Micah with tears in her eyes.

Beca felt such a mixture between anger and sadness that she didn't know what she was feeling more, how they had lost the control so fast, how their beautiful, calm and happy family had become in that. She was having a hard time trying to reach her reasonable, logical, motherly side, knowing that her son was lost and it was her duty to help him figure out how to fix things before they went too far, like they were going, and she had to make a strong mental effort to stop herself from giving a hard slap on her son's ass, like her grandparents had done to her father many times. Beca walked to the door, her eyes wet and her expression a mixture of too many things, and looked at her son.

"Micah Joseph Mitchell, we are going now" she said firmly, and he ran towards her, still crying hysterically and running after her mother, who just walked quickly to the entry, _Billie-Jean_ barking in the background. They were still in their pajamas, so Beca gave her son some shoes from the shoes shelves they had in the entry, and she put her own on, before taking both their coats and putting them on both of them. They walked to the car, and ignoring her cries, Beca adjusted his chair and sat him there, and then she went to the driver's seat.

Beca drove them far away from Norfolk, calming herself on the way and also crying silently, while Micah eventually stopped crying. She drove next to the sea, that could be seen next to them, which helped to calm them. Eventually, Beca stopped driving next to a beach that was empty and quiet. They walked silently and Beca sat on the sand, hugging her knees while contemplating the ocean and Micah imitated her sitting next to him. Beca looked at him and realized his face was still wet, and his bangs. She smiled a bit, and with her sleeve, she dried his face.

"It looks like you've gotten yourself in one hell of a mess, uh?" she commented, staring at the sea again "Beth is mad, mamma is mad, Noah is mad, and I'm pretty mad myself. The difference is that I'm mad at me, not at you."

"Why would you be mad with yourself?" Micah asked, his voice hoarse from crying so much.

"Because Micah, my duty as daughter is to do whatever my dad needs and take care of him, and love and respect him. My duty as a sister is to support my sister and take care of her even when I hate her. My duty as the owner of two pets is to make sure they are happy and healthy. My duty as a wife is to love and take care of my wife always. I've never failed in any of those" Beca said "But then, I've got a duty as a mother, to raise my children to be amazing people, to love them and make sure they are happy, healthy, well educated... and I failed that. There's no bigger failure to a mother."

"I haven't been a good son right?" Micah asked after a moment of silence.

"You have been one of the best things that ever happened to me. You still are. Yes, you failed as a son lately, but you're still my son, and I still love you. And you can always go back and do the right thing, your grandpa Mitchell did. I did. You will do it too, because you want to fix everything, am I right?" Micah nodded "The first thing you're gonna do when we get home is apologize to your mother, your siblings, and your cousins, for everything. With me, you can get all the mad you want, I can take it. But you want them in your side, trust me. You do that, and you'll be a good son again, the one your mother and I raised you to be. And you'll be true to yourself too."

"Okay" Micah nodded eagerly.

"We need to fix our little problem before we get back, Micah" Beca stared at her son, who stared at her "Tell me what you want me to do, because I have no idea anymore. I've tried, and it seems like nothing works with you."

Micah thought about his answer for some time, and then he looked at her mother. His brown, messy hair, contrasted against his pale face, adorned with two bright balls as dark blue has the ocean.

"I just feel like you prefer hanging out with Noah than with me. Like you don't care about me anymore." He said sadly, looking down. Beca melted inside and caressed his cheek with a hand just as pale and rosy as his face.

"Oh, baby. I could never stop caring about you I love you to the moon and back. I'm sorry I made you feel like that" Beca said.

"I don't understand how can you feel good enough to hang out with him, but when it comes to me you're sick or tired."

"I know" Beca nodded "Let me put it like this. Imagine that you have tons of homework to do, but you're really sick, and you really don't feel like doing the tasks you have to do. But then you have a best friend who would gladly do your homework for you so you can rest, you would let them do that, right?"

"Only until I feel better" Micah nodded.

"Exactly" Beca nodded "But then there's this one task your best friend, as much as they want to, can't do, because of whatever reason. Then, would you just abandon that one task or would you make a huge effort to do it yourself, even if you're feeling crappy?"

"I guess if it's really important, I would sacrifice myself a little and do it."

"Well that's the situation now" Beca said "A parent should never complain about their stuff to their toddlers, but if it helps you understand..." she shrugged "According to my doc, Micah, I should be resting a lot. I shouldn't be climbing the stairs up and down, carrying kids in my arms, basically any kind of physical effort. That would be the ideal thing for me, even though I hate just lying in bed and would still do things a bit more my way than my doc would want, but because I have four kids, that amount of _just doing nothing_ isn't an option for me. That said, I'm not complaining about having kids, each of you cost your mother and me a lot of effort until we got to be your mothers and neither of us would change any of you for anything in the world because we love you a lot. Is like painting, is fun, we love doing that, but it takes a lot of effort."

"I understand" Micah nodded.

"Yeah..." Beca nodded for herself "Then again, I'm married, I have a best friend to do all my tasks and homework for me, but she can't take care of four kids, two pets and herself all alone, she needs help. So I try to help a bit and we also have our whole families and friends around helping, and grandpa, Sheila, Jesse and Aubrey staying with us, so for your mother is a lot easier to take care of everything and I can devote myself to get better. What happens now is that there is this one task, your brother, that I have to do even if all I want to do is lie on the sofa watching a movie and eating pancakes, because your mother can't breastfeed him, and because there is this one biological, scientific thing that you better don't try to understand, that happens when you give birth, that is that the mother has to bond with her newborn, because your brain sometimes all it wants is to punch the kiddo in the face for all the pain of the pregnancy and labor, so you have to remind your brain that is your kid and you love the baby." She explained "And the day your brother was born was kind of... really, really hard for both your mamma and I, so the labor wasn't exactly ideal, and then I was in the hospital, so I took longer to get to know my son. For that reason, I need all the time with him I can get, so my brain stops feeling like taking revenge for the baby's crappy birth."

"That's very hard to understand" Micah frowned, and Beca giggled.

"I know, it's quite difficult" Beca smiled stroking his hair "You'll learn when you're older though. It's just that for scientific reasons, a mother needs to hang out a lot with her baby and the baby needs that too, even if the mother feels shitty. It's just a very, very important task that requires some sacrifice. So that's the one homework I have to force myself to do doesn't matter how bad I feel, it's just how it is. And then you are that little homework that specifically asks me to be the one who takes care of it and not my best friend" Beca smiled.

"So I should... just don't ask for more?" Micah said insecure.

"No, of course you should ask for more if you want more. I made a mistake by not forcing myself a bit more to be a bit more attentive with you, I just... it's not an excuse, okay? But you've always been so independent, like me, that I never thought it would be a problem. Look, if I didn't have your mother to take care of the most important things of my life like if she was me and even better, while I'm sick, I would force myself out of bed even if I was dying to take care of you. I would crawl and drag myself to the end of the world for you. But I have her, so I let her do everything, and take care of the one thing only I had to do, that is Noah. My mistake has been to, because I had your mom, get too out of my kids' lives, and I promise I will do my best to stop that, okay?"

"Okay" Micah nodded "You know there are plenty of things we can do as you rest, because I love sleeping too!" he said cheerfully, and Beca laughed.

"That's right cowboy!"

"And we could all go to yours and mamma's bed and watch a movie and eat popcorn!" Micah added "Or pancakes! Mamma can do pancakes for us!" Beca smiled at her and nodded. He smiled happily "You know momma? I love you."

"I love you too, Micah" Micah then lunched himself to her mother's arms, making her back hit the sand, and they lied on it, hugging each other tightly.

"Am I hurting you momma?" Micah asked.

"A little" Micah went to pull apart and Beca hugged him tighter "But it's okay. I missed your hugs."

"I'm sorry I was a bad son" Micah said.

"Don't worry, I was a bad mom too. The important thing is that deep inside we are super good people that always come around at the end."

"We are humans and we make mistakes." Beca smiled.

"That's right."

They lied on the sand for a while, and then they started walking around the beach with their shoes in one hand, getting their feet wet. They held hands with their free hands as they walked aimlessly.

"...and then there is this boy who likes football a lot, but he's not very good at it" Micah was telling her about all his classmates "We also have this one teacher, Miss Thompson, who knows many funny dance moves."

"I always liked her" Beca said. They were just talking about random stuff.

"Momma, is there recess at your work?" Micah asked "And all the adults go and play hide and seek or something?" Beca smiled.

"We have lunch break, and all the adults go drink coffee, talk about themselves, and eat sandwiches. I sometimes Skype your mother during lunch break."

"Momma, how was it before we were born, when you and mamma were alone with _Avery_ and _Billie_?"

"It was great too. If we had nothing to do, we didn't even bother to get dressed, we had bubble baths quite often, pancakes almost always, and we would go on romantic walks even if _Billie_ was with us. The funniest things were probably the first days at work, I believe it was when we had been dating for not quite long, and we were living at your mamma's house in Atlanta, she was a teacher there too, and the first days she was at work, she would call me from work every five free minutes she had, and we would talk nonstop. It was like we missed each other too much. And then, she'll come home, and I would usually have cooked, and she would tell me about her day while cooking, and then we would just lie in the sofa for the rest of the day, and if your mother had work to do at home, I would pour her a cup of wine and sit beside her laughing at the stupidities some of her students wrote. She taught teens back then." Beca explained and Micah smiled.

"Mamma is a happy woman."

"She is."

"She was so angry though."

"Your mamma is like a lion, and I call her that quite often. She's just as overprotective of her family, as beautiful and majestic, and she can be both the sweet feline lying around like the most harmless creature ever, and the most aggressive person" Beca explained.

"She's also the only person

I know besides Beth capable of crying during a Disney movie" Micah added giggling, and Beca laughed.

"Yes she is."

"I remember last year when she was so sad. But she's good now, right?"

"She's the strongest person I know. She's fine, yeah... we just love each other too madly to be angry with each other for too long." Beca smiled.

"One day momma, you'll have to explain me how do you know if she's the one." Micah commented.

On their way back home, Beca put some of her mixes on, and Micah fell asleep. It was funny how her mixes weren't, at least the majority of them, precisely like Chopin, but her children loved them and could sleep perfectly well with them.

Micah woke up when they were almost at home, and they went into the house holding hands. They had spent good three hours out and they smelled lunch inside. Chloe quickly came to the entry, already dressed, to receive them, and her serious expression turned into a huge smile when she saw they were holding hands, and then she knelt on the floor extending her arms, and Micah ran and hugged her telling her how sorry he was. And Chloe kissed him, and sobbed. She then carried him in her arms and went to hug and kiss Beca without dropping him.

They had lunch in the garden with the Swansons, Alan, Sheila, Angela and Amanda, Charles and Anna, Jessica, Amy, Stacie, Emily, Sophie and Seth with their three kids, Hannah and George with their two kids, and Cormac and Gwen with their two kids. As for the Lightwoods, they were at their place, so not a lot of people were at the same time at the very full and busy Mitchell house, and Ashley, Leonardo, Cynthia, Grace, Lilly and Koru, were visiting Flo and baby Hugo at the hospital. Beca started feeling very tired, so, not wanting to leave the table, she just supported her head on her wife's shoulder and closed her eyes. Chloe stroke her hair tenderly and kissed her head. The children had already stood up from the table and were playing while the adults sat chatting and drinking wine except for five months pregnant Amy and six months pregnant Emily, plus Gwen, who had a child in March and was breastfeeding, and Beca.

"Mitchell, go to bed" Chloe said.

"I don't need to" Beca replied tiredly.

"Come on, you're tired and as stubborn as your kids. Do I have to remind you that you have a huge wound that needs to heal or will I have to ask your doc to do so?"

"Okay, bossy" Beca smirked standing up and taking Noah from her dad's arms "I'll go take a nap and breastfeed the kiddo. But if I'm not up in two hours wake me up, I don't wanna miss the whole afternoon."

"Okay" Chloe smiled pulling from her t-shirt to give her a kiss.

"Are you going to take a nap mom?" Micah asked running towards the table.

"Yeah, do you want to join?" Beca asked, and the kid nodded eagerly taking her hand.

"So they fixed their problems, uh?" Sheila asked when Beca and Micah had left. Chloe nodded.

"Yeah, they have a good understatement" Chloe replied.

"Why was he so mad again?" Jesse asked.

"Beca mentioned something about him not understanding that just because she's with Noah doing stuff doesn't mean she has actual energy to play football with Micah. I didn't ask for the details." Chloe replied.

"Daniel said Beth threw a glass of water to Micah" Aubrey commented and Chloe giggled.

"Yeah, that girl is a Beale, what can I say?" Chloe said "Well, I did scold her, because it's adults' job to punish kids, before she starts believing that being the eldest gives her the privilege to take matters with her hands."

"Although it's kind of hilarious" Anna intervened "Wait, they were playing so they aren't still angry, right?"

"No, they apologized to each other, Micah even hugged her. I don't know what Beca did, but whatever she did, was a damn good job" Chloe replied.

"Mom!" Beth ran to Chloe "I just remembered!"

"What?" her mother asked.

"It's less than a month for momma's birthday! What are we going to do? She can't go party right?" Chloe's eyes widened.

"Oh shit, I forgot we were already in July! You're right Beth" Chloe nodded "I think your mother would very much love to just have a quiet birthday, we can buy a cake and you guys can be extra nice and tidy your rooms the day before so I don't have to worry about that and can focus on making a good birthday for momma."

"Are you gonna have adults' time?" Beth asked, and some adults laughed. Chloe's ears reddened.

"Beth honey, we'll buy or maybe make a cake. You can make your momma one of those amazing drawings or something, okay? She doesn't need a great party to have a good birthday." She avoided the question.

"Great!" Beth smiled "How old is momma already? I can make her a card."

"She'll turn thirty... four? That's young" Chloe realized, and smiled a bit. Beth counted with her fingers.

"Mamma, if I'm almost six, momma was like in her twenties when I was born, isn't that college? You became mothers in college?"

"Oh sweetie, I wish we were even girlfriends in college, but not. Your mother had you with twenty seven because I'm three years older and I convinced her" Chloe giggled "But you don't see her regretting it, right?"

"No" Beth giggled "I'm gonna make her a blue card! And I'll put G clefs and notes, so she'll like it more!" Chloe smiled.

"Awesome!" they high fived "No go play with your sis." She slapped her ass playfully and Beth laughed running after Kamara.

The adults spent some time there chatting, when suddenly Sophie looked to the house and frowned.

"Isn't that Micah... holding Noah?!" Chloe turned in her chair so fast she almost fell and there he was, Micah walking towards her hugging Noah.

"Micah Joseph Mitchell, why are you carrying your brother without supervision?" Chloe yelled as Micah arrived.

"Don't yell, I think he's asleep again!" Micah hushed her and handed her the baby. Chloe took it, and saw the baby was sleepy, his eyes opening and closing "I woke up and he was making noises, and when I looked at him, he started crying and extended his arms towards me, so I thought he wanted me to pick him up, and we were on your bed, so I did just like you taught me, and he seemed better, but I was afraid he would wake mom up, so I took him to you."

Chloe's expression softened.

"Micah love, that's so sweet of you, but you can never hold him without an adult next to you and wide awake, newborns are harder to hold and he could have fallen downstairs. Don't do that again, okay? Next time, you take mom's cell and give me a call."

"Okay." Micah nodded and sat on the chair Beca was occupying before "Is he okay then?"

"He seems fine now, aren't you, squirrel?" Chloe smiled staring at Noah, who stared at her intently "Thanks anyway Micah" she kissed him on the head "Is momma sleeping then?"

"Like a bear in winter" Micah nodded.

"Bring me the midget, I wanna hold him" Aubrey asked, and Chloe smiled handing the baby to her "He looks so much like Micah already." She added watching him carefully.

Beca didn't come downstairs until half an hour later, right in time to breastfeed the already a bit upset baby. She just took the baby sleepily and sat on her chair, that Micah left for her, to breastfeed him with her eyes closed and her head on Chloe's shoulder.

"Haven't you just been sleeping for quite a while?" Stacie asked.

"I don't know, it felt like five minutes" Beca replied, and sat straighter because Noah didn't seem comfortable "My breasts felt like exploding, so I guessed it was feeding time and this one seems like he hasn't eaten in his life."

"Like mother, like son" Chloe joked kissing her.

"You better pray he isn't like me, trust me" Beca stroke the baby's cheek "So Micah, you took your bro or someone stole you both from me?" she asked looking at Micah, who had sat on Chloe's lap.

"I did" Micah smiled proudly "Mamma already told me not to do that again without an adult's supervision. Does my aunty Addie count as adult supervision? She isn't a little kid."

"She's twelve, she will be valid when she's eighteen at least" Beca replied yawning "Or twenty one better, if she's old enough to drink, she's old enough to carry a newborn."

"But by then Noah will be walking already" Micah reasoned.

"Then sorry but I'm not leaving this one with anyone underage just like that" Beca replied "If he breaks..." she raised her eyebrows to finish her question. Noah kept sucking her nipple eagerly, so Beca just let him do his thing.

"You get scary when you don't sleep enough" Micah giggled "I'm gonna play with Daniel!"

Beca smiled.

"Okay munchkin, don't fall in the pool" Beca told him before he left. Then Beca looked at the others "Any news from Flo?"

"She's pretty good, happy" Aubrey replied.

"Yeah, and the kid is a cutie" Fat Amy added.

"Ashley says everything's fine and maybe Flo can leave the hospital tomorrow with the kid" Jessica commented looking at her phone.

"That's awesome" Chloe seemed satisfied.

That night, after breastfeeding the baby again and changing his diapers, Beca practically fell on her bed, and Chloe giggled crawling towards her and hugging her with her whole body like a snake hugging its prey. Beca just groaned tiredly, and Chloe kissed her neck.

"I'm so in love with you my stomach still flips when I see you, you know?" Chloe whispered against her ear.

"That's meant to be a good thing?" Beca whispered.

"Indeed" Chloe smiled with her tongue between her teeth before biting her lobe.

"I'm really tired Chlo" Beca said.

"Sleep then Becs" Chloe hugged her tighter.

"I can't if you asphyxiate me like a boa constrictor." Chloe giggled and pulled apart just a bit "Better."

Noah, however, had another ideas and woke them up around midnight, crying. Chloe jumped out of the bed, Beca groaned, and Chloe calmed the kid down until he fell asleep again. Chloe then went back to the bed and while she was about to snuggle against Beca again, she noticed the brunette was breathing heavily.

"Beca? Are you okay sweetheart?" Chloe asked shaking Beca a little, but the brunette groaned again and frowned "Becs, wake up" she shook her more, and Beca groaned harder and frowned, gripping her belly with her hand, and then cried "Babe, up!" Beca's eyes opened suddenly and she sat on the bed, breathing heavily "Are you okay?" Chloe asked sitting next to her.

Beca rubbed her face with her hands, and let her back fall back on the mattress.

"Have you been having nightmares every time?" Chloe asked frowning, stroking Beca's face.

"Not always nightmares, sometimes just weird, fuzzy dreams" Beca replied "I'm really tired."

"Try to sleep some more" Chloe suggested, lying again with her in the mattress "I'll be right here when you wake up."

Beca hugged her and shortly after, she fell asleep again. In the morning, she woke up and found Beca crying silently sitting on the bed with Noah in her arms.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Chloe asked concerned hugging them both.

"I-I d-don't k-know" Beca sobbed "I-I j-just want t-to cry! Hormones!"

Chloe let her cry against her shoulder while Noah ate, whispering soothing words and rubbing her back until she finally stopped crying, but stayed in the same position sniffling. Chloe's eyes moved to their alarm clock, and she froze.

"I know why you're crying" Chloe said.

"Hormones" Beca said hoarsely.

"No. Today Noah turns a month" Chloe said.

"What?" Beca, taking advantage of the fact that Noah was done eating, took her cell and saw the calendar "Oh. Well, congrats Noah, you're one month old now." She kissed Noah.

"A day like today a month ago, you were assaulted, tortured, and almost died." Chloe muttered. Beca left Noah in the crib and sat with her.

"I'm not going to give them the pleasure of stealing his birthday" Beca said "Today is July 19th, the day we celebrate our littlest one was born just a month ago. Nothing else."

"Okay" Chloe nodded "What do you think if we bathe him? He hasn't been cleaned in like a week."

"That's because he smells nice, and there's no need to risk him drowning" Beca stated.

"I can get in the tube and carry him while you clean him up" Chloe suggested "He'll be safe. Come on Beca, you're being a little bit paranoid honey, he's not going to die because of a bath. I wouldn't do anything dangerous to my son."

Beca seemed to think about it for a while, and finally she nodded. They went to their bathroom, filled the tube while unclothing Noah and then Chloe sat in the tube and reached her hands for Beca to give him the boy. Chloe hugged Noah against her bare chest, kissing his head and stroking his cheek, and Beca sat outside the tube, on the floor, and with a sponge rubbed Noah's back tenderly.

"Look at that ass" Chloe smirked staring at the baby, with her lips brushing against Noah's brown hair. Beca side smiled a bit rubbing Noah's ass cheeks with the sponge, and then his little legs and feet. Beca loved everything about that little boy, and she was counting his moles, that weren't many yet, and paying attention to every little thing he had, like the way his head turned to a side, his cheek pressing against Chloe's chest and his tiny arms over her breasts, his fists tight, his legs bended over her mom's belly, his toes curling. He was a very white baby, almost like a paper, but his palms, cheeks and lips were rosy. His eyes were already bluish, and his hair was starting to fall so new and stronger hair could grow.

"Come on, out" Beca wrapped Noah in a big and warm towel and hugged him against her chest, the baby not complaining one bit, and she got out of the bathroom while Chloe showered quickly. Beca got one of Noah's bodies out of a drawer and also his gloves to protect his nails, and then she laid the baby on her bed, and proceeded to put him some diapers on and dress him up. She was just finishing, the amount of times she had done that made her be twice as fast now, when Chloe got out of the bathroom and started dressing up. Beca contemplated her for a moment, wet and nude, and smiled a bit "You know, you're just as beautiful as the woman I married almost seven years ago."

Chloe looked at her and smiled from ear to ear.

"I could say the same thing about you. I still get chills remembering how beautiful of a bride you were" Chloe replied, and Beca blushed a bit.

"Now look at us, many scars, disgusts, four kids, and many laughs later" Beca sat on the bed and rocking Noah to sleep.

"Yeah, it's crazy how many things have happened in just seven years" Chloe finished dressing up and sat beside Beca, putting a hand on the back of Beca's head and kissing her in the lips and then kissing Noah's head. The sun illuminated the bedroom through the curtains, and they could hear some laughing and running on the other side of their closed door. Chloe looked at her watch "It's almost ten, time for breakfast" Beca yawned "What do you think if I take a look to your wound, make sure it's still healing well, and then you go to sleep again?"

"Can I?" Beca asked with an exhausted expression. Chloe smiled caressing her cheeks with her hands.

"Of course babe, you deserve it" Chloe kissed her "I'm very proud of you. I know this month has been a living hell, but you're doing much better than I expected. However, I'm here for you if you need anything, alright? You don't have to be a warrior forever, you can actually rest and cry or whatever you feel like doing."

"Thank you Chlo" Beca kissed her "I'm so lucky I have you."

"Me too. I love you" Chloe said between kisses.

"I love you too."

Chloe carried Noah to his crib and tucked him properly, and then walked back to the bed where Beca had already lied and pulled her t-shirt up and her pants a bit down. Beca had had a C-Section that formed a long scar below her belly button, and then there was a smaller one a bit below the first scar, that corresponded to the cut their kidnappers had done. Chloe palmed the scars to make sure they weren't warm, which indicated infection, and then went to the bathroom to get some Betadine, and applied it to the scars.

"Do they still hurt?" Chloe asked while applying the Betadine.

"A little bit if they are being touched" Beca replied "they're mostly itchy, but I don't touch them."

"Good" Chloe left the Betadine aside and leaned to kiss Beca's belly over the belly button, and then made a trail of kisses up until she reached the t-shirt, and then she kissed Beca's lips "I love you."

"I love you more" Beca smiled against her lips kissing her before a yawn interrupted the kiss, and Chloe giggled.

"Sleep, and call me if anything, okay? Even for a nightmare" Chloe ordered.

Five minutes later, she was entering their living-dining room, seeing that her siblings and parents were visiting –which wasn't weird because it was already a quarter past ten and her family was staying in a hotel close by like the other Bellas, that Beca was paying for. Although their guests would usually not be a lot in the house unless they were called to give them some quiet, and would usually go do tourism or something, their families couldn't avoid staying in the house as much as possible. It was also a very big house, so even when everybody came, it wasn't that asphyxiating, and let's not forget they came for them and to help them- and had set in the table, where the Mitchell kids and also the Swanson kids were having breakfast, and were talking with them. Alan, Sheila, Jesse and Aubrey were also around.

"Good morning mamma!" Beth greeted with her mouth full and Chloe smiled "Isn't momma coming for breakfast?"

"Your mother woke up a lot tonight, so I told her to stay in bed and she knows better than disobeying me" Chloe explained, trying to avoid making Beca seem like she didn't care for having breakfast with her family.

"Okay, but you should get her some toasts later" Micah said eating his own toasts "Or she will be hungry, and she gets moody when hungry!"

Chloe grinned and nodded letting her mom give her some breakfast. She loved having her family and friends around since they usually didn't see them more than maybe twice per year or so.

"Guys, guess who's turning one month old today" Chloe said.

"Aw, Noah's getting big!" Alan smiled.

"Isn't he kind of small of a one month old baby?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, he was born before time" Chloe nodded "But he has gotten quite big quite fast, with all he eats."

"Are we having cake and party?" Kathy, Chloe's niece, asked.

"No, we just acknowledge it so we know in what stage of growing he is" Chloe explained "He won't even understand what day it is today anyway."

"Can we go play now, aunty Chloe?" Edith asked.

"Yeah sure" Chloe nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, as the children played in the garden, the adults were chatting in the living room, when Beca came very well dressed, with makeup on, carrying a crying newborn and an expression of pure bad temper.

"Where are you going?" Aubrey asked. Beca huffed.

"To work apparently" she replied, said good morning to the others, and gave Noah to Chloe "He's mad I woke him up to breastfeed him before leaving."

"You can't go to work, it's July, you guys were closing, and you are on maternal leave" Chloe reasoned.

"Well apparently my day is starting crappy because like a minute after you came downstairs, my chief of security called, followed close by Wyatt, and they are both freaking out because last night somebody broke into _Bulletproof Productions_ building and stole some very, very expensive equipment" Beca explained. Chloe's eyes widened "And Wyatt said there's police involved, and press is bothering everywhere, and everyone is there, and the place is a mess, and we don't know what else they have stolen, and I've got important things there. We don't even know what the hell happened because security is very, very good, but my chief of security says it appears that someone broke a window, stole things in record time before the cops came because the alarms sounded, and let's hope the cameras have caught them, so now I'm exhausted, pissed off as hell, and God helps the bastards that did this because I'm going to have half Norfolk looking for them. I have to talk to cops, and to God knows who else, and I don't know if I'll be home for lunch."

"Can't somebody else do it? You are supposed to be resting" Alan said.

"I wish dad, but I trust nobody. Even if I did, I've been told cops are asking for me" Beca was checking her phone in the meantime "Fuck, I've got a thousand missed calls from employees… they're probably worried their stuff has been stolen or something. Well, I'm going now before they come find me here." She walked to the garden quickly to say hi to the kids, and then back to kiss Chloe "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Wait a second, you can't drive" Chloe reminded her "Not if you're taking the meds, they make you sleepy."

"I haven't taken them today yet, and I drove yesterday and nobody died, it's fifteen minutes Chloe, it'll be fine." Beca said "I've gotta run, sorry for not being here and all of that."

Beca walked through the corridors of the building she worked in. The robber hadn't had much time to steal things because they had a night guard and also cops had come quite quickly, but the place had important equipment missing. However, one of the cameras had caught part of a face, so police was looking for it. Beca's stuff was still there, she kept her office locked, and not many things were missed in the building in general, but the stolen things, even if not many, were really expensive. After talking with police, the guards, and press, she drove back home, after two hours entertained in the building. She was tired and angry, but it had been many years without a single robbery and now it would make them stronger. However, she couldn't avoid worrying, not knowing if, with her history, would be someone dangerous and that was looking for her, or just some group of stupid teens making stupid decisions.

Their families and friends were already having lunch in the garden and, after spending some minutes talking with her children and focusing on them, she let them play –they usually ate earlier so they had space for everyone in the table- and then went sit with Chloe, letting her elegant and expensive jacket, present from Chloe that had a few years now, on the back of her chair.

"You look sexy girl" Fat Amy smiled at her. Beca curved her eyes into a tiny smile.

"According to Wyatt, sexy and bitchy" Beca commented.

"How did it go?" Anna Beale asked.

"And how much of a big problem it is" Chloe said "Because the glass of problems is over the top lately." Beca nodded.

"The cameras caught a couple robbers, not very well but police thinks between that and some prints, would be enough. And there's only a couple broken windows that have already been replaced, and some expensive equipment stolen that we'll have to replace and will cost a fortune I, fortunately, am able to pay from my own pocket" Beca explained "What has me more worried is that it's very stupid. I mean, you don't just go and break into one of the best secured buildings in East America to let cameras see you and leave prints around. It's completely stupid and nonsensical, and also, with all that's been going on, I don't know if it's someone else that wants to join the team of let's kill the Mitchells, or if it just somebody wanting money."

"What does police think?" Sophie asked.

"Police is stupid, and it's been long since the last time I trusted their efficacy" Beca said "No, they say that it's a dumb group of teens breaking into buildings thinking that makes them more mature or something."

"It's a stupid theory" Cynthia said "Hey, and how come you are paying for it, shouldn't your insurance pay it?"

"I decided it" Beca said "The insurance is for worse stuff, some equipment I can replace it and it's alright, I already checked with the bank, but if a failure in the equipment hurts any employee, that is where the insurance intervenes. Or if somebody falls downstairs or any other stupid thing."

"Tell me your maternal leave isn't over" Chloe said looking at her wife.

"No, of course it's not. I told them this was the only time I was planning on going there until September, I told my employees to go home and enjoy the holidays, and I told the police to find the assholes, the security time to do their damn job, and the company's team of lawyers to take care of everything, so I can just rest and they'll call if needed" Beca explained "I'm already in zombie mode. How is Noah?"

"He's sleeping again" Gwen, who had the baby in her arms, said "You were saying earlier he hasn't let you sleep tonight?"

"No, he slept fine" Beca replied "It's just nightmares and stuff, you know, brain being funny. But it'll pass soon, it's already being much better than the brutality I was preparing myself for in the hospital."

"God, hell of a year already" Chloe sighed.

"Let's hope it's just a bad patch. From today, life has to be nice and friendly" Beca said optimistically "Look the positive side, all of our children are healthy, Micah doesn't hate me anymore, you're doing fine, and our anniversary is in ten days and then there's my birthday right after, and we should just have fun from now on."

"Oh, I forgot about our anniversary thinking on your birthday" Chloe admitted and grinned "Seven years of marriage already."

"Time flies" Jesse commented.

"Yeah" Beca nodded "Would you mind if we go for a more relaxing celebration this year babe?" Beca asked.

"Relaxing is perfect for me" Chloe nodded "Not that we go rafting every year anyway." Beca nodded.


	17. Chapter 17

_I AM BACK! Okay so a lot of shit happened, you guys deserve to know. In short, I failed three subjects at University, it was my father's one year anniversary of death, some family shit happened, a friend that's more like a sister almost killed herself and a lot of stuff going on with someone I deeply care about. All in this same month. And May was also crazy as fuck, but well, I'm very very sorry for the absence and now I'm in my summer holidays so even though I'm busy with two jobs and studying, I'm gonna do all I can to update much more frequently, I feel awful for not having done so. My apologizes. Lots of love!_

 _Thanks Pitches4Eva, CombixGirlx and everyone else out there for your continuous support. You guys are awesome and I really hope you like this chapter! Very sweet one ahead._

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 **Chapter 17: Seven.**

The same day she had gotten married seven years ago, Beca Mitchell woke up stirred on her bed, to the sound of beautiful singing coming from the en suite bathroom. She smiled to herself and got out of the shared bed and peeked over the crib that was right next to the bed, satisfied to see the newborn still sleeping. Deciding not to bother him and just wait until he woke up by himself, she went to the bathroom to pee, and was greeted by the warm vapor from the shower. Chloe was singing with her whole lungs and Beca was careful not to do much noise so as not to interrupt the girl that was so lost in her shower, washing her hair with her eyes closed. Beca got up from the WC, and then Chloe opened the shower's curtain to see who the intruder was, grinning when she saw Beca and then opening the curtain more to show her nude self.

"Happy anniversary love" Chloe said, and Beca grinned walking towards her and, not caring about getting her pajama wet, she started making out with her wife, who was even taller than usual now because the bath tube's floor was more elevated than the bathroom floor.

Chloe surrounded Beca's neck with her arms, and Beca put her hands on Chloe's ass cheeks, stroking them slightly with her fingertips. It was a hungry session of making out, after more than a month of not doing anything remotely hot.

"How fast can you get in here?" Chloe whispered between kisses, and the ginger was already helping Beca remove her t-shirt when Noah started crying in the other room, and they pulled apart with a tiny smile. Chloe giggled looking at Beca, who had her lips swollen, her face reddish, her pants' knot –it was one of those pajama pants that have cords so you can adjust how tight you want them- undone and an expression of disbelief.

"He was sleeping" Beca whispered to herself in an attempt to accept what just happened "I haven't touched you in months."

"It will have to wait honey" Chloe gave her a peek "Go take care of our chubby midget, I'll be out in a minute."

Beca got out of the bathroom straightening her t-shirt and tying the knot of her pants, and went to the crib where Noah was crying, looking like a Mandrake from Harry Potter. Beca took the baby lovingly in her arms, and hugged him against her chest, her chin against his little head as she rocked Noah softly.

"Sh..." Beca tried to soothe him "It's okay buddy, I'm here. Momma's here." She could tell his diapers weren't dirty yet, and she had feed him less than two hours ago, when she had awoken to his cries, so she imagined it was just that he missed human contact, or that he had a bad dream if babies so young could have them. By the time Chloe got out of the bathroom, already dressed because she had brought her clothes with her before getting into the shower, Noah was almost completely calmed down.

Beca had lied in bed supporting her head on her hand with an elbow on the bed, so she could lie over Noah without squashing him, and was kissing his face as she stroked him with her free hand and cleaned the tears from his face. Chloe smiled seeing this, and she discreetly took her cell and made a photo of them right in the moment Noah had raised his tiny hands to touch Beca's face, and Beca was smiling at him, touching his little nose with hers. Babies so young couldn't see properly unless things were very close to them, so Chloe knew seeing Beca properly had calmed him even more.

"What had you so upset my love?" Chloe asked to their midget crawling on the bed towards her wife and son, lying the same way Beca was but in the opposite side of the baby. The baby had his attention fixed in both of his mothers, and Chloe pulled down the zipper of his body to fart on his belly, making him squeal and smile. It was a general rule in the house that nobody was considered completely helped until they were at least smiling again.

"You're an amazing mom" Beca whispered smiling down at them.

Later that day, Beca had Chloe sitting on the kitchen counter with her legs wrapped around her hips while making out with them, when Aubrey interrupted them and instantly turned around apologizing, and Chloe laughed.

"It's okay, what's up?" Chloe asked.

"Just wanted a glass of water" Aubrey said, and Chloe got down from the counter and took a glass, filling it with water and giving it to Aubrey.

"I better go and make sure that barbecue is being done" Beca said walking out of the kitchen.

"Jesus, didn't you celebrate that anniversary in the bedroom already?" Aubrey asked after drinking, with a smirk.

"Noah interrupted us when I was about to get my wife into my shower." Chloe shrugged "I swear that woman gets hotter by second, doesn't she?"

"I'm not allowed to answer to that" Aubrey said, and Chloe giggled "Come on, let's go to have lunch, you'll get to eat her out tonight, silently if I'm optimistic."

"For Chloe and Beca!" Alan toasted before lunch, and they all attacked their plates.

Leonardo and Flo were already back in Atlanta, where they lived, with little Hugo. Ashley, Lilly, Koru, and Jessica, had also gotten back to their homes. Benji and his daughter Hailee had came to Norfolk the day before, and now all the Bellas, Wyatt and Eva, Angie and Amelia, and both the Mitchells and the Beales, with their children, joined together to have lunch at the Mitchell household and celebrate seven years of marriage. The atmosphere was even better than weeks ago, and now you could hear continuous conversations taking place here and there, laughs, and people in general looked happier. Wyatt and Beca had been slightly busy with the robbery at their company, but things were much more under control, so that gave them some calmness too. Beth had asked for their mothers' wedding album of photographs and was looking at them after emptying her plate. The girl loved seeing the romance of her mothers.

"Mommies, can I wear one of your wedding dresses when I get married? And Kai can wear the other one!" Beth was excitedly planning while turning the pages of the album.

"Sure honey" Chloe smiled giving Beca a peek on the lips.

"Oh, and grandpa Alan had more hair, so handsome!" Beth commented. Some laughed and Alan smiled at his grandchild "Momma you looked so pretty next to grandpa with that dress."

"Yes she was" Chloe smiled kissing Beca.

"Where's this?" Beth asked showing a photo of Beca and Chloe sitting and cuddled on brown ground, the light of the photo indicating sunset, and some savannah trees in the bottom of the photograph.

"That would be Namibia, our honeymoon photographs are in there too" Chloe replied.

"Your mother and I decided Paris wasn't good enough for our honeymoon" Beca joked "So instead we made a selection of some of the most dangerous places in the world and decided to travel there."

"Why are they dangerous, are there lions here?" Beth asked pointing to the photograph.

"There were lions there" Chloe nodded "But the places were dangerous because of how high our chances of catching illnesses like Malaria or AIDS were, and those weren't even the worst things we could get."

"But they were too amazing places, it was worthwhile" Beca added "We saw Namibia, and Cape Town, and Udaipur in India, and Myanmar. Oh, we celebrated my twenty seventh birthday in India and it was beautiful."

"How do they celebrate birthdays, isn't like here?" Amelia asked.

"No, there's the cake, but also includes putting the red dot between my eyes, and then they bring you a silver plate with candles and other stuff?" Beca looked at Chloe, who nodded.

"Yeah, several things as part of their tradition" Chloe explained.

"And they threw rice on me and did several stuff, and sang their own happy birthday song which we learned but I think I forgot" Beca explained.

"I've got that in video somewhere" Chloe said smiling "You remember you kept pulling rice out of your hair a week later?" Beca giggled.

"Yeah..." Beca nodded "There is a lot of traditional food and dancing involved too, and there's a beautiful ritual with fire too. We made some friends there and we told them we had gotten married like a week earlier and that was our honeymoon trip, and they sang us some mantras for that."

"It was a nice trip" Chloe nodded.

After lunch, Beth decided to bring a bunch of their photo albums to take a look, stating that it was the best way of celebrating seven years of marriage, and grinning, she put the photo album of 2021-2022, which featured her birth and first months of life, on Chloe's lap.

"Let's see... oh, I was so fat" she stared at the first photo, that was of a very pregnant Chloe in their pool the summer before Beth's birth.

"You were beautiful" Beca added, turning the page. The first photograph of Beth had been during her first breastfeed ever, in Chloe's arms "Oh, look at that, three and a half kilos and fifty once centimeters of pure perfection" she smiled looking at Beth, who smiled proudly looking at her newborn self.

"Why was I so red?" Beth asked.

"The efforts of being born honey" Chloe kissed her head "Our little Elizabeth Sarah Mitchell, such a beautiful little girl."

"She has it in her DNA" Beca said matter-of-factly "We should see the video your uncle Jesse did that day, it was a great one."

"You cried like a cloud during a storm" Jesse joked.

"You cried when your kids were born too" Beca defended smiling.

Later that day, she had a medical revision at the hospital, so Chloe sat next to her while she lied on a hospital bed nervously as the doctor took a look to the scars.

"It looks much better" the doctor said "I'd say both of the scars are completely healed now" the doctor added passing a finger through the scars "Although I'd recommend no more pregnancies for you."

"Don't worry doc, we've decided four kiddos is good enough" Beca said. Chloe kissed her on the cheek.

After that visit, it was still some time before dinner, and Chloe was giving Beca a back rub as her anniversary present with some special oils she had bought, and Beca fell asleep face down on their bed from the joy of the backrub. Chloe smiled at her cleaning the oil from her back with some Kleenex so she wouldn't get the sheets dirty, and when she was going back to bed to go to sleep too, she saw there was an envelope on her nightstand that she hadn't seen before. She took it, reading her name with Beca's handwriting on the envelope, and lied comfortably on the bed after putting the sheets over both Beca and her, to open the envelope. There was a letter, and she realized it must be Beca's present, since she hadn't had time or health to prepare something bigger, but it was more than enough for Chloe, who loved reading Beca's letters. For a girl that could barely express herself face to face, she was quite good at writing.

 _To my beloved wife:_

 _We've been married for seven amazing years now, and we've been together for some more. You've made each and every day of all these years an amazing day to live for, and every day when I get to wake up next to you I can't even believe I get to be the lucky person who has you beside them every day. You are the love of my entire life, Chloe, and I wouldn't change you for anything in the world._

 _Before I met you, I was one of those girls who had never thought about getting married, and I had never wished for that, or for children. It's not that I didn't think that would be nice, just that I hadn't even thought about it. But when I gained your friendship, I realized I loved having you close to me, and when I lived far away from you, I missed you every day so much it would make me be in a very bad mood. Then, I got to kiss you, and I realized I couldn't stop, I even thought I could die if I stopped kissing you. It felt right, it felt amazing, it felt like breathing for the first time, and after all these years, it still does. The day you asked me to marry you was one of the best days of my life, and one of those days when you just can't believe you are that fortunate, and I, that have never been an specially lucky person, look back in time today, and realize I'm much luckier since I have you in my life. I didn't know if I should say I do, because even though I knew that having you be my wife would've been a true blessing, I wasn't so sure if it would be as awesome for you too, if I was good enough for you. But I said I do because I also realized that even if I wasn't worthy of you, I was, and I still am, the only person in this whole Universe that loves you as much as to wake up every day with the sole purpose of being the best wife you could ever ask for. Even if I wasn't worthy, and I still am not worthy of you, I love you so much I will spend every day of my life trying as much as possible to be good enough for you, until my very last breath. When I said I do, I committed myself to that. And the day I married you, I knew there was no way in hell I was letting you go._

 _Today, seven years later, I realized I've made many poor decisions, which I will still make, but marrying you was the best one I ever made. Because you gave me the four biggest joys of my life, our four amazing children that, with you, enlighten every second of my life, together with our two great pets that trained us to be the amazing moms we are. And now, the only thing I want is to have another seven, ten, twenty, fifty, or ninety years with you, because if I ever have to say goodbye to you, I don't know what I'll do with myself if not pray for Death to carry me back to your arms soon. You are my home. You know me better than anybody, you love me more than anybody could ever do, you make me the happiest, your sadness make me the saddest, and your strength makes me the strongest. I wouldn't have survived all the miseries of my life if it wasn't for you, and I know even today, despite all the exhaustion of the past weeks and everything else, I could still annihilate an entire army so I could still go back home to you and our amazing family. Because at the end of the day, when I go back to bed next to you after a crappy day, you still make my stomach flip, my heart breathe, and my whole self live again, you still make me feel lucky to be alive, and you still make me want to wake up to another day, shitty or not, because I know as long as you're by my side, is not only worthy, but more than okay._

 _Thanks Chlo, for making me the luckiest women alive, for existing, for being my amazing wife and the mamma of my children, for making me feel beautiful, loved and wanted everyday despite my scars, and for all the other awesome things you do. You're still as gorgeous and sexy as the day I met you, and I'm still looking forward to growing old with you, I'm still counting your freckles and our daughters' every now and then, and I'm still falling harder in love for you every minute. I hope having me in your life is equally satisfying, but I will still do my best to be the partner in crime you deserve._

 _Always,_

 _Beca._

Chloe muffled a sob with happy tears running through her cheeks, and before she could clean them, she felt a hand softly wipe the tears off her cheeks. When she looked, she saw Beca smiling at her, sitting next to her. Chloe smiled at her through the tears, and let the letter on the nightstand before it got wet, and then she turned back to Beca, and kissed her hard on the lips.

"How can you be so perfect?" Chloe asked drowning in those blue orbs of her wife, with her arms around her neck.

"I ask myself the same question every time I see you" Beca replied kissing her "But I still have another present for you waiting for dinner to pass."

"Really?" Chloe grinned, feeling Beca's arms around her waist.

"Indeed" Beca leaned to kiss her again. Chloe looked down at Beca's naked body, and bit her lips.

. . .

After making love for the first time in too much time, they cleaned themselves up, Beca breastfeed Noah, and the three of them went downstairs, where dinner was almost ready. Their own families had almost completely forbidden them both access to house tasks such as making meals, so they just enjoyed having everything done without moving a finger.

After dinner, they all went to the music room of the house, a room that had an upright piano, a guitar, and some other things. It was a small room where Beca and Chloe went whenever they had to do serious music things, mostly work things, or just to play music, because the walls were specifically prepared for music to be played in that room, and the room had the best acoustic. Beca sat on the piano bench with Kamara and Beth, and Micah stood next to them, and the others stood around, or sat on the carpet or some sofa that was around. Chloe stood next to them with Noah hugged to her chest, preparing herself for a beautiful thing because she loved when her wife got their children to use their beautiful voices. Beth and Micah were the only ones they had been helping to train their voices because they were older, although they would probably start with Kamara in another year or so, but she still sang well because when you had people singing around you since you met them, it was hard not to have a good hearing and intonation.

"This was the girls' idea" Beca commented "Micah and I thought it was a sweet idea, so..." she smiled at Chloe and started playing. When Chloe recognized the first chords, she and some others who also did, giggled. " _I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid… Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide? I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over sideways and under on a magic carpet ride._ " For the chorus, all of the children joined " _A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view, no one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming._ " Now sang only Beca and Beth " _A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew, but now from way up here, it's crystal clear, that now I'm in a whole new world with you_." Micah intervened repeating _Now I'm in a whole new world with you_ and then Beth continued alone " _Unbelievable sights, indescribable feeling_ " Beca and Micah joined " _soaring, tumbling, freewheeling, through an endless diamond sky_ " now the next chorus was sang by Beca, her three eldest children, their aunts, and the other Bellas except Chloe, who giggled kissing Noah's head with tears in her eyes. Micah, Jesse, Benji, Alan, Daniel, Charles and George did the part of Aladdin and the girls the part of the princess. Beca had somehow managed to prepare a whole surprise right in Chloe's face without her knowing all along " _A whole new world, don't you dare close your eyes, a hundred thousand things to see, hold your breath, it gets better, I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far, I can't go back to where I used to be. A whole new world, every turn a surprise, with new horizons to pursue, every moment gets better, I'll chase them anywhere, there's time to spare, let me share this whole new world with you_." Now everybody shut up, the kids quickly got up from the piano bench and motioned for Chloe to sit next to her wife, who raised her eyebrows to her with a smirk and mouthed _sing_ , and she sang the Aladdin part as Chloe sang the princess part " _A whole new world (A whole new world), that's where we'll be (that's where we'll be), a thrilling chase, (a wondrous place), for you and me._ " And as the last notes from the piano sounded, Beca wrapped an arm around her wife, that carried their son with an arm while caressed Beca's cheek with her free hand, and kissed Chloe on the lips while everyone else applauded.

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 **Please leave reviews!**


	18. Chapter 18

_Hi! Sorry I took a while to post again! Life got in the middle and I've been busy but being busy gave me a bunch of ideas for the chapters so now they're being written quite faster ;D_

 _I LOVE this chapter. It has some parts that re reading now, after all I wrote it months ago (in fact I think last year) I was cracking up, to be honest, so it has some fun, and also a lot of romanticism, and a tiny part that is slightly +18 for masturbation._

 _Thanks for all the sweet reviews! I appreciate the support, really. I'm healing up quite nicely!_

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 **Chapter 18: Quiet.**

August 9th, 2027, was the last day their guests were staying in Norfolk with them. After being away from their families for more than a month –even though Skype had helped- and now that Beca was doing much better, they decided after her birthday, they would go back home. Some of them were leaving that same afternoon, while others would wait to the following morning. The Mitchells would miss the company, but they were also craving for some alone time, and the calmness and quiet of their house with only six occupants. Despite waking up to a crying newborn, Beca woke up on her birthday with a good mood, that improved as Chloe devoted herself to massage and kiss her neck, shoulders and back while she breastfeed their youngest son.

"Happy birthday momma!" her three eldest children yelled giving her the presents during lunch that day, the last lunch in family their garden would see in some time.

"Thank you rays of sunshine" Beca smiled taking three birthday cards filled with drawings and colors. She always loved those cards, her heart always skipped a beat when seeing them. Chloe's presents had been making love in the shower earlier in the morning and also new shoes, some jewelry, and the newest book of Beca's favorite author, that had come up in the stores when Beca was still in the hospital.

They brought the cake, and Beca closed her eyes thinking of a good wish. She usually asked for the same thing, and it rarely came true, so she decided to change her wish, and she wished that whatever storms were waiting for them, they would always survive them together. She then blew all of her thirty four candles at once, and everybody sang her happy birthday.

Later that afternoon, they said goodbye to the Bellas, except Aubrey and her family. They also had to say goodbye to Chloe's parents and Gwen and Cormac with their children, who were going back to Tampa.

"Visit soon uh?" Gwen said hugging her sister.

"Sure, maybe Thanksgiving" Chloe replied smiling and hugging her back "Bye nephews!" she hugged the kids.

"Take care Becs" Charles hugged Beca, careful with Noah, who was in her arms "Don't grow up too fast little boy!" he added kissing Noah on the cheek.

"Take care, thanks for everything" Beca replied.

"Call us if anything" Anna told the family before getting into the taxi that would carry them to the airport.

Chloe sighed cuddling in her bed that night next to Beca, who was already comfortably snuggled.

"Long day uh?" Beca said.

"I hate goodbyes, it's so nice to have them all here" Chloe hugged Beca under the sheet.

"I know" Beca kissed her temple "But we'll see them again for Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas."

"Anyway, how was your birthday?" Chloe asked.

"Amazing, as always" Beca replied.

"Perfect" Chloe aspired Beca's scent from her neck and Beca giggled "You smell so good."

"I smell like not having time to shower daily" Beca joked.

"I'm so thankful I have you, smelly or not" Chloe smiled kissing her.

"I love you."

Early in the morning, Chloe woke up to attend Noah, who was crying and let Beca sleep after having had to wake up an hour earlier to breastfeed the baby. Chloe found out Noah needed a diapers change, which made sense, and then cuddled with him on their bed. Because it had been a warm week, the baby slept only with his diapers and a thin blanket, and Chloe took some baby oil and started massaging his body while singing softly, which all of their babies had always loved and Noah wasn't an exception. After some time, Noah was starting to get sleepy, and Beca's deep breathing was even deeper. She didn't snore, but sometimes if she was very, very relaxed, her breathing could be heard in a quiet room. There was a knot against the door.

"Who is it?" Chloe asked, and Aubrey peeked through the door, light peeking too into the room that was in dimly light. Chloe pointed at Beca, who was sleeping in the left side of the bed in fetal position facing the wall, and Aubrey nodded, acknowledging the message of talking in whispers "What's up blondie?"

"Our plane leaves in a couple hours" Aubrey whispered "All of the children are awake and having breakfast downstairs, because Beth went to wake grandpa Alan up and our kiddos woke us up. I heard singing and went to see if you wanted to join."

Chloe went to reply but Beca's breathing changed and in a second, Beca was sat in the bed and rubbing her eyes. Her sleep was less deep now that they were mothers and her brain seemed to know it had to stay alert in case a kid was crying.

"What happens?" Beca asked sleepy yawning.

"Sorry shorty, I was telling your wife everybody is having breakfast downstairs in case you guys want to join."

"I'll be down in a minute" Chloe said.

"Is he okay?" Beca asked suddenly acknowledging the baby on their bed and frowning.

"He's in heaven" Chloe smiled at their baby, who had a thumb into his mouth and his eyes were half closed while his other hand wrapped one of Chloe's fingers tightly.

"Okay" Beca yawned and stared at Aubrey "We'll be there in a minute, thanks Aubrey."

After breakfast, all the remaining goodbyes took place, and suddenly, Beca and Chloe, together with their children, found themselves alone at their house, that was now too quiet for their liking. To fix that, Chloe got into a Just Dance championship with their children, as Beca cheered with Noah sleeping in her arms. The kid, that was created while listening to Beca's mixes, didn't even flinch with the noise.

"I surely didn't miss cleaning the dishes" Chloe commented that afternoon while cleaning the kitchen up. Beca, who was reading the newspaper sitting on the kitchen island, smiled at her, rubbing her eyes, that were itchy after reading for awhile.

"I did, I have a perfect view of your ass from here" Beca joked, and Chloe laughed. Beca got up and hugged Chloe from behind, kissing her neck "Are you tired?"

"A little bit" Chloe replied "Are you going to help me?"

"No, but I'm going for a relaxing plan" Beca pulled her towards her, turning her around, and hugged her. Chloe smiled leaning against her shoulder and Beca stroke her hair.

That night, the family had dinner on the sofas while watching a scary movie that the kids had insisted that they were old enough to see. Chloe and Beca knew they weren't, but instead of forcing them not to watch the movie, they let them see it. That way, they would understand what they meant when they said they weren't old enough to watch it, and would never want to watch a scary movie that they weren't old enough to watch again, and the memory would be more efficient than their words. Even Beca and Chloe, who having gone through a ton of scary experiences and hated scary movies, found themselves incredibly scared, but the kids really wanted to watch it, so they accepted. However, not ten minutes after having closed their eyes hugged on their bed, all three of their children joined. Chloe giggled at Beca's face when they looked around and saw Kai snuggled between them, and Beth and Micah each in one side of the bed.

"Care to explain me how the hell am I gonna get out of the bed to breastfeed Noah in three hours?" Beca asked looking at Chloe, who laughed harder and hugged Kamara and Micah against herself.

"You'll have to go over our daughter" Chloe smiled, and closed her eyes, feeling much braver and much less frightened.

Beca, however, wasn't as brave and confident when she had to wake up at two in the morning in the dark house to breastfeed Noah, and she turned the room's light on instead of just a lamp. Like bats with lights, her family had reacted to the light and, instead of running away, had cuddled closer, and with the couple of gingers, they seemed like a family of lions cuddling together with two adopted monkeys or something. Or like a bunch of snakes in a basket, or otters, all snuggled together trying to hide their faces in each other to keep the light away. Beca smiled breastfeeding Noah and contemplating them. Chloe, who lied on her back, had her face hidden into Micah's hair, and the boy had his face hidden against her mother's torso, with the blanket over his ears. Kamara was hugged onto Chloe, also hiding her face against her body, and Beth, who Beca had moved to her other side in order to get out of the bed, hugged her sister hiding her face against her. Also, they all had the sheet as high as possible, and Beca thought since they were so cute and well covered, it was a good idea to make a photo for Facebook and Instagram for their families and friends to see. She made it with her phone and published it with the sentence _When your cubs swear they're old enough to watch a scary movie before going to bed, and you decide the best way to teach them they're not is by letting them see the damn movie. Let's see what happens when one of them starts needing to go to the bathroom... Also, is it me or don't they look like a couple lions who adopted a couple of monkeys? #BigFam #HaveFunExplainingThemGenetics._

Beca, as kind of a celebrity, took as part of her job to keep in touch with fans and social networks. The first ten years of her career, that had frightened her and she had hated every bit of sharing her life, but as she grew older and more people around her did it, she learned how to do that part of her job without being such torture. Firstly, she only had Facebook, that was strictly private so only for family and friends, and Instagram and Twitter, that were mostly for her work. Twitter was only used to make announcements about her career, albums and stuff, or to wish happy Christmas and things like that, and from time to time, she said something personal like a commentary on politics or any other thing she could put into a funny tweet, and as for general rule, she did her best not to comment on family or too personal stuff, but if a fan was nice enough, she didn't mind giving answers as soon as it wasn't a too revealing answer. Like, her fans knew the full name of every one of her children, but they didn't get photos often of them, and only if the kids didn't mind. As for which photographs she published or not, she was more free with Facebook, even more after she had gotten her company's secure team to enforce its security, but with Instagram and Twitter, she only posted photographs that contained family members if were very blurry, with poor visibility, or showed only backs, hands, or, in short, not clear, full faces. And only with permission of those family members.

At first, Beca had kept Chloe strictly out of her occasionally celeb life. They lived much more calm and out of cameras and general attention in Norfolk, where also fans were so used to seeing them and getting photos with Beca, and also so understanding with not photographing her family, and happy enough with getting Instagram photos and stuff, that they rarely bothered them in the slightest, and their children had never had trouble at school with fame, because people were very respectful. Beca had said a thousand million times everywhere that her family wasn't going to stand the celeb life they never asked for, and that she only pulled up with that life with certain content because it was the result of a good work, and if it wasn't for her fans, she wouldn't have succeeded professionally. After their marriage, however, Chloe started wanting to go with Beca as support to all her events, and she only missed some when she was pregnant, and then even Beca missed some. As a result, people knew Chloe Mitchell, but she could still live a mostly normal life, and she wouldn't change it for anything because she knew she married Beca Mitchell the DJ, and she didn't want any less but the whole person Beca Mitchell was.

Beca decided to post the photo in Instagram, which was linked with Twitter, because she hadn't spoken to her fans in a long time. Now that she thought about it, it was weird that her manager hadn't called yet, because she hadn't paid attention to fans in more than a couple months. Beca's fame came mostly from her own works and collaborations with famous people rather than from being a music producer, although it was known that many very important albums of the last few years had been produced by _Bulletproof Productions_. She still liked to be the DJ at certain events and celebrations, although since she was a mother, she barely did that, and her company organized charity events sometimes with famous guests and musicians, and she usually performed too. The money they raised was later given to charity. Now that Beca stopped to take a look to Twitter, she realized many fans had been worried about what happened back in June. Press had been kept quite away from all the dramatic events, but that had made fans worry a lot about her and the baby because not having trustworthy information, people made up a lot of crap. Deciding that after so long it wasn't a bad idea to please her fans a little, she looked through her phone and found a photograph Chloe had taken of her and Noah the other day. The photograph showed Beca standing next to a window of the house, giving her side to the camera, and carrying Noah wrapped in his blanket. Beca had her cheek against the baby's head and was looking through the window absent-mindedly, and the photo was beautiful and had a bluish light that was pretty good. Also, only part of the back of Noah's head and part of his body could be seen, and Beca seemed healthy and normal, so Beca approved the photo, that Chloe had already put in Facebook after taking it, and Beca put it in Instagram so it would appear in Twitter. _Sorry for being away from Internet for so long, I was pretty busy! Stop being worried about me and my fam, we are all doing okay. May I present you Noah Beale Mitchell, he's healthy as hell and his siblings are already trying to carry him around and hug him to death. We're pretty busy lately, so don't expect lots of news from me, my maternal leave goes to networks too! And don't believe the Media, we were in a pretty dangerous situation, that's true, but since everything is fine now, and mammas and baby are feeling good and being well taken care of by family & friends, I don't see why we should focus on the past anymore. Now my BF, my wife and my kids call me DJ McBadass, what do you think? xx._

Beca smiled looking at her sleeping family, and then looked down at her baby, who had fallen asleep after being breastfeed.

"You got yourself in one hell of a family Noah" she kissed his hair and tucked him in his crib "We attract problems like a magnet, but we wouldn't leave each other alone for anything in the world."

In the morning, she was surprised to wake up still on the bed and not on the ground. She had Beth wrapped around her torso, Kai was up and petting the cat and dog, who had seen the bed as a family party and had joined, and Chloe was still lying on her back, her bum somehow messy, while Noah was asleep almost over her, hugging her with his whole little body. Beca smiled and looked at the nightstand's alarm clock, seeing it was still early, not much after eight. Feeling with energy enough, she kissed Beth's head and rolled her carefully to a side, her long red hear splashed against the mattress, and her angelic face still relaxed, and she got out of the bed. Kai looked at her and smiled.

"Morning" Kai greeted.

"Good morning sweetheart. Want to come make pancakes with me?" Beca offered with her arms open towards her, and the kid nodded and walked over the mattress launching herself to Beca's arms. Beca looked a second over the crib to make sure Noah was asleep, and, shoving her feet into her slippers, and walked out of the room with Kamara in her arms. It was strange to carry something that actually weighted, but Beca loved it. She had her arm under Kamara's ass to support her, and the girl had an arm over Beca's shoulder and hugged her body with her little legs. Beca caressed one of her feet, making Kai giggle, as she walked downstairs. In the kitchen _Avery_ instantly came to be feed, and Beca leaned to give it to him, and then she sat Kai on the counter "Do you want to be my kitchen helper?" Kai nodded eagerly "Okay, break this eggs for me?"

Between Kamara and Beca, they finished breakfast quite soon and right as the first plates of pancakes were put on the table, Kamara already eating her pancakes, Beca felt arms hugging her from behind, smelled Chloe's scent, and felt her body pressed against her back.

"Good morning" Beca said smiling while cooking more pancakes.

"Morning" Chloe said sleepily nudging her nose into Beca's crook of the neck and kissing her neck and shoulder "Pancakes" she whispered rolling the _s_ and Beca giggled feeling her breath against her neck.

"Yup" Beca turned her face and kissed her "Have we got any plans for today?"

"Well is August 11th, and before we know it it'll be September and we still have to buy all the books and stuff for the kids, so I suggest doing it today if you're up for it." Beca nodded.

"Your daughter is going to be your student, that must be exciting" Beca reminded Chloe. Beth was now about to start Elementary School at Chloe's school.

"She won't be my student, there are rules against that so the other music teacher will teach her class" Chloe said "But it'll be nice to see her in the playground and around, be close to her in case she gets sick or whatever."

Chloe hugged Beca tighter placing her cheek on her shoulder.

"Feeling needy today?" Beca asked.

"When haven't I been a touchy person?" Chloe giggled "Even more having such a gorgeous wife, be thankful I'm not trying to get into your pants all the time."

"God, do you remember our first three months as a marriage? I swear some days I couldn't even feel anything from the waist down" Beca laughed, and Chloe laughed into her neck.

"Morning!" Micah and Elizabeth came into the room rubbing their eyes. Their mothers smiled at them.

"Hello beauties" Chloe knelt wrapping them both in a hug "How did you sleep?"

"Are those pancakes?!" both kids said excitedly at the same time, and ran to Beca's legs, hugging them. Beca laughed and Chloe smiled at them.

"Yes they are." Beca replied.

"Mommy you're the best!" Beth said.

"I love you so much mommy!" Micah added. Beca giggled and fake frowned.

"Do my ears deceive me or my kids only love me if there's food involved?"

"Not at all mom" Micah said.

"But you do have a special glow in the face when making pancakes" Beth added, and Chloe and Beca laughed.

"Go shrimps and eat your food before I regret it!" Beca joked and the children laughed taking their plates and joining their sister. Chloe smiled hugging Beca's back again. Beca was doing her own pancakes, that were the last ones.

"You're amazing" Chloe whispered.

"Seriously, you all only love me when I'm cooking nice stuff" Beca joked. Chloe turned Beca around as soon as the last pancake was in the plate, and kissed her.

"Do you know when was the first time I noticed my heartbeat accelerated three times when I saw you?" Chloe asked, her mouth inches away from Beca, who raised her eyebrows questioningly with a tiny smile, wrapping her arms around Chloe's neck "You were maybe nineteen, and I was looking at your hands while you rehearsed something in the piano to see if it worked for a mix or something, because I've always loved your hands, and then, I looked up and you were so focused on your scores you didn't even realize I was staring, and you had this cute little frown" she smiled passing her thumb softly between Beca's eyebrows "and I just thought you were simply amazing and that I had to get you somehow."

"Why didn't you?" Beca asked curiously "Not once you tried to date me."

"You were with Jesse and you seemed quite happy, so I thought if I really loved you I should let you go. And by the time you guys broke up, I was settled in Atlanta, you were so busy trying to make a name in LA, I thought it would be stupid to just go there, so I stayed. But not once I forgot about you and that's how all my relationships failed quite fast. As Aubrey told me back then, I was trying to find someone like you, and there's just nobody." Chloe explained between kisses around her neck.

"I feel bad I wasn't in love with you back then" Beca said closing her eyes, enjoying Chloe's kisses "Well there was a time in college... but I thought it was teens stuff. And then I was always too busy to even think about having a shower, let alone love, as long as I could just sleep with someone nice to relieve my needs. And then Roger came..." Her voice was cut when she suddenly felt one of Chloe's fingers inside of her "Chloe" she gasped.

"Mmm?" Chloe asked kissing the back of her ear while slowly moving her finger.

"W... we c-can't" Beca was starting to want to have sex on the counter roughly like before they had four children who could interrupt them at any moment.

"No?" Chloe knew all of Beca's weak spots and was attacking as many of them as they were visible. Beca was making a huge effort trying to be in silence, clenching her teeth all tense "But you are so tense..." Chloe whispered, and, putting another finger inside of her, curved them to hit the exact place where she knew Beca's G spot was, causing the brunette to make a guttural, contained sound, and Chloe giggled against her neck.

"Baby alone" Beca reminded Chloe with a raspy voice "Kids near." Chloe kissed her cheek and before she could reply, the kids ran into the kitchen and Chloe, who looked like hugging Beca, pressed herself tighter against her wife to hide the fingers she had inside Beca, making the fingers go as deep as they could go, which made Beca make another sound, like if she had choked.

"It was delicious mom!" the kids said leaving their plates. They frowned when they heard Beca's sound. The couple didn't move, just hugging tightly, and Beca had her eyes shut close.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Beth asked.

Beca cleared her throat.

"Yes, mammas are just hugging a bit" Beca said while Chloe kissed her face. Right in that second Chloe extended her fingers inside of her and Beca whimpered a little bit, her nails pounding into Chloe's shoulder skin, and her teeth clenching.

"Momma?" Kai asked.

"I'm okay, just thought I saw a spider, but it's not" Beca said quickly "Are you guys going to play now?" They nodded, and left "God Chloe you're evil."

Chloe giggled pulling apart and getting her fingers out.

"I'll check on Noah" she said while going to the door. Right when she reached the door, she turned around and looked mischievously at Beca, fixing her eyes on her before sensually getting the fingers that had been inside Beca, into her mouth, and licking them. Beca gulped.

Later that afternoon, the family was watching a kid's movie and Chloe and Beca were sitting on one sofa, Beca with a sleeping Noah in her arms and Chloe having an arm around Beca's shoulders, while Kamara sat next to Chloe, and Micah and Beth lied on the puzzle carpet, watching the TV. Then, Noah started crying, and Beca calmly hugged him against her chest, patting his back softly and whispering comforting words. Chloe smiled and stroked the baby's wet cheeks a bit.

"I'm gonna go see if he calms down" Beca said getting up after a while, and Chloe nodded with a little smile. Beca got the baby's blanket, and with him, she went to their garden, rocking the baby and whispering comforting words to him as she slowly paced around the garden, the sun of August hitting them and making Noah sleepy again.

Beca lied with the baby in her arms on one of their deck chairs next to the pool. Noah wasn't crying as much now and Beca closed her eyes relaxing with the warmness of the sun, hugging the baby against herself. She looked down and locked eyes with Noah, who just stared silently at her.

"You want to say hi but you don't know how, right?" Beca smiled warmly stroking his cheek "I like that you don't know how to talk, because sometimes for knowing how to, people stop appreciating the silence, and start believing that every word is good enough to interrupt the silence. Plus, you know what your grandma Sarah used to say?" with the baby on her shoulder, she put her forehead against his "Only by listening" she touched one of his ears softly "you will know what to say." She smiled stroking his lips softly, and the baby squealed "You would've loved to meet her. And she would've loved to meet you. You wanna know where she is?" she pointed to the light blue sky "There, with your uncle Joseph, your aunt Kendra, and your cousin Jackie. And they will always be watching, making sure you" she put a finger on his nose "are okay. Their light will shine on your brightest days... and it will also guide the light into your darkest days. And one day, you'll meet someone as amazing as your mamma, who will guide you home when you don't know what to call your home anymore." She smiled down at the kid, kissed his forehead, and got up carrying him.

"How is he doing?" Chloe asked coming towards them.

"He's fine, he was just a little bit upset" Beca replied looking at her.

"Great. Well the movie's over, and we should go buy that school material, unless you want to stay with Noah, in which case I can go with the kiddos" Chloe said. Beca shook her head.

"It's okay, I'm sure Noah will sleep all afternoon now, and you're not going to carry three bags of school stuff."

Beca pushed Noah's baby carriage with Kamara standing on its toddler supporter too, while they walked through the mall next to Chloe, who had each of the older kids of the couple in one hand.

"Okay Beth, you've growth spurt lately, do you need new shoes or something? Maybe a new skirt, isn't that one too tight?" Chloe was asking the kid. As they grew as mothers, they had discovered it was easier if Chloe handled the clothing department, not because Beca didn't like it, she didn't really mind, but because Chloe was particularly good and fast with that, and Beca could take hours. Also, Beca got tired and dizzy of those kinds of shopping faster than Chloe. And then, Beca, who was more practical, handled the material department, memorizing quickly which books were for who, and knowing by heart whether they had this or that at their house or needed to buy it "Beca, Beth needs a new jacket, don't you think? I think I remember the sleeves being a bit short."

"Yes, I think so" Beca nodded.

"Mommies, can I get some new underwear?" Micah asked.

"Sure, is anything wrong with yours?" Beca asked and Micah blushed.

"My thingies are a bit too tightened..." Micah replied embarrassed, and Beca and Chloe smiled.

"Is okay honey, you're a tiny man now!" Chloe smiled at him "Okay Beca, so we better split."

"What? After seven years? We just got a baby hon, what did I do wrong?" Beca joked, and Chloe playfully slapped her arm "So you go with those two and buy some clothes, I buy the books?"

"Yes" Chloe stroked Kai's cheek "I'll get you a new jumper to replace the one that broke honey" Chloe smiled at the kid, and gave Beca a quick peek before leaving with the other kids "See you in half an hour where always!" Chloe yelled at Beca, who nodded.

"God, kids these days just have too many books" Beca whispered to herself sitting at the bar Chloe and Beca agreed to met after buying everything. Beca left the bags with the books under the baby's carriage, in the tray it had, and made sure Noah was still asleep.

"When am I going to big kids' school, mommy?" Kamara asked, sitting on Beca's lap drinking her juice.

"Three more years honey, three more years" Beca kissed her hair "Your mother must have seen heels."

But soon after, Chloe and the other kids came happily, bombarding them with all the things they had brought.

"Oh, and I've gotten you a new jacket" Chloe finalized showing Beca a beautiful jacket.

"Damn, it's quite cool... but Chloe, we were supposed to not buy anything for ourselves!"

"I know, but Micah saw it and Beth said you deserved something nice after having Noah and all... Oh, and wait until you see the new bonnet Beth found Noah, it's so cute!"

"Noah has like seven bonnets at home, and just one head" Beca reminded her.

"Momma, don't be miss Grumpy!" Micah scolded her, and Beca smiled. Her family was crazy, but it was fun after all.

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 **Please leave reviews!**


	19. Chapter 19

_I loved this chapter! So sweet ;D Not many reviews but thanks for the ones that come!_

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 **Chapter 19: Cold crisis.**

With the beginning of the school year, it was easy to predict illness would start to come, Chloe worked surrounded by children, and three of their children were constantly surrounded by other children, so it wasn't a strange thing. When the cold air started to be felt in Norfolk, Beca knew it was time to get the scarves out of the boxes and the cold syrup ready. When she, one day, heard Noah sneeze, she knew it was only a matter of time, because they went through similar things every year. But she still wasn't ready when Micah, Beth and Kamara got a cold at the same time. Like, one day they were driving back home from school and work, and they heard three sneezes in sync, and Beca and Chloe looked at each other, pale faces, and fear in their eyes. Because one, maybe two colds at the same time, they could manage. Even three. But three plus newborn with low defenses, that was another thing.

"I can't breathe" Beth said with a raspy voice that day after dinner, and Beca and Chloe stared at each other with looks that said something like _good luck, I'll see you in heaven_ before looking at the kids, who were surrounded by Kleenex.

"Micah and Beth aren't going to school tomorrow, they're running a slight fever" Chloe announced getting into their bedroom that night after dinner, while Beca breastfeed Noah "Kamara is just a bit sick, but she better stays at home too before passing it on to other kids or getting sicker herself. I've put Beth in Micah's room so they can be a bit isolated and not make everybody ill."

"Awesome" Beca sighed "Tell me this cold hasn't gotten into any of your students yet."

"Unfortunately, there are like seven sick kids between my students, and this is always an epidemic. It happens every single year." Chloe sighed getting into the bed.

"You can't get sick Chloe, if you do, I will have four ill persons to take care of alone and I will get sick. And if I get sick, Noah will, and that can't happen. So don't go to work, tell them you got sick."

"Beca, I can't do that, but I'll keep eating healthy, drinking lots of water, and keeping my body fitted, and my defenses will protect me."

Beca sighed the next morning, while Chloe was at work, sitting on Micah's bed and contemplating her two elders snuggled into their bed, coughing every few minutes or needing to clean their noses, unable to fully rest and feeling crappy. Beca hated seeing them like that, and she tucked their blankets better and kissed their warm foreheads after giving them their cold syrup and then she got out of the bedroom.

"Okay, how are you feeling baby?" Beca went to the living where Kamara was lying on the sofa while watching cartoons and eating a veggie sandwich.

"Better" Kai replied with her sweet voice "Can I have more juice?"

"Sure, you can have as much as you want" Beca smiled and went to the kitchen to get it for her. After that, she went to check on Noah, who was on another crib they had in the living room, sleeping peacefully "Okay, everyone okay except the other two..." she bit her nails thinking how could she help her eldest children, and then went to prepare the healthiest juice in the history of juices, which consisted basically on whipping all the veggies and fruits she could and still make it taste somehow yummy. Then, she went to Noah's bedroom and feed the other kids, who would drink anything they told them would make them feel any better, even if it had to be between frowns and grimaces "I promise you'll be back to health in no time, you'll see." Beca smiled at them when they finished and cuddled against Beca, who hugged them both "It's just a bad cold, it'll go away."

She gave them their favorite teddies and tucked them in bed again, covered them in kisses, careful of not being coughed in the face, and let them rest in peace. Kamara was just having some throat ache and some mucus, but she was mostly fine, so Beca devoted herself to get that one completely healthy again before she got worse with somebody else's illness and she had to go in alert of pandemic. With Beth, Micah, and Noah, feed and asleep, she settled with Kamara on the sofa and while the kid watched cartoons, she started doing some mixes. She hadn't feel like it in months but lately she was more up for that.

Ever since June, she knew she would never forget what happened that month, and the horrors her family and herself had to go through once again, but she had refused to let that sink her. She had already been depressed a few times in the past, and now she was decided to honor her badass nickname, and be a strong rock and support for her family, and even more for her newborn, who practically depended on her for almost everything, since she was the only one who could feed him, he cried whenever he hadn't seen or heard Beca in a long time, and many times if he was upset, Beca was the only one who could get him to calm down. In exchange, Chloe tried to be there for all the other tasks so Beca could rest; dressing, changing diapers, cleaning any mess, bathing him, or playing with him, although in that last one, everyone always helped. So Beca, even if she had allowed herself to cry and be kind of a mess for the first weeks at the hospital or so, decided that it all ended once she was home. She saw her therapist once or twice per month, an hour each time, and that was it. She didn't think about her past and kept her mind in the present as much as possible, she used all of her nine years of therapy, counseling and all the knowledge that had given her, and she tried her best to focus on small tasks she could do in the moment, not in things that she could do nothing about, and that way she kept herself distracted, because she knew the worst she could do was get bored and then sit and just think in all the crap of her life, like she did in the hospital most of the time, because then, she could cry herself to sleep, and punch stuff, which usually ended with her hurting herself. Gym also helped to let rage go, although she had to take it easy because she wasn't entirely cured yet. Chloe understood it was her way of dealing with it, and never asked or pushed, and if she needed to talk, she did, which didn't make Beca feel like crap, but like maybe she could help, or they could cry together a bit. Beca could, of course, lose countless hours talking about all the traumas of her life, but after nine years of therapy, she knew that didn't help anymore. She needed revenge, she needed explanations, and since she could get any, better not to think about it.

So she sat. And she made music and she took care of her family. But she was afraid out of her mind of getting sick, not because it was particularly risky, she barely got colds after having been raised in Maine and other illnesses weren't very common in her either, but it was more the fear that illnesses came with a big need to rest and sleep, which for her, was like forcing her to have nightmares willingly, and not tiny nightmares about monsters or stuff, but things worthy of Saw or The Exorcist, if not more terrifying, and also, she knew if she got ill she would have much more predisposition and free time to think of everything that could and definitely would depress her.

In seven years of marriage, neither Beca or Chloe had ever been forced by the other to sleep on the couch, but when Beca saw Chloe's face later at noon when she came back from work, she almost asked her to sleep anywhere except in their bed that night, or almost proposed going herself. But she didn't.

"I can't believe you got sick" Beca said while cooking. Chloe had just come from work and, after greeting her kids, she sat on a stool by the kitchen island, her forehead supported on her palms.

"I'm not sick yet" Chloe whispered "My throat it's just a little bit itchy and I feel the pre cold exhaustion."

"You are sick. You are in the stage one of being sick" Beca said. She wouldn't usually panic while having three ill people at home, but when she was still trying to force her mind out of June, she didn't want to have a situation when she wouldn't have the strength to keep her memories away. Other years it was easier because the traumatic situations where more far away in time.

"I will be fine."

"I sure will, I have masks for all of you" after one particularly big illness season they had when Beth was around two years old and the three of them plus a ten month old Micah got sick, they had bought those masks surgeons use. That time, first Beth got a cold from school and gave it to Micah, who right before getting better along with her sister, gave it to Chloe, who gave it to Beca, who spent a week sick even though everyone else had gotten better and between one and the other they spent more than a month without going to work, sick or taking care of their sick children.

Beca was a Mainer, which meant she had grown up getting resistant to colds, other illnesses she could get, but not colds. And even less if they were small, which Chloe always caught because between being a teacher and having grown up in Tampa, where colds were almost an urban legend. Beca also knew many remedies to colds, and if anyone in the family got a cold, bigger or smaller, it was always cured in a week tops with Beca's help, so before they had kids, Beca rarely got a cold and she always cured Chloe quickly. But then Beca had to resist Chloe and Beth with colds that many times came at the same time, which meant double force in the enemy side, and she mostly did it, catching only one cold or so, that went by quickly. But then they were four, and then six. And you can't resist the four of five times stronger force of a cold, even more when each person caught it in a slightly different way, so then Beca started contracting their colds, and always the last one, after weeks of resistance, and always in a stronger way, because the little things were things her trained organism didn't catch. When Micah got gastroenteritis, he was cured in a week and mostly in the couch, she needed two in bed, when Chloe caught a throat thing, Beca lost her voice completely for a week right when Chloe got cured, and that was the eternal story, although many times everyone could get sick and cured without giving it to Beca.

After lunch, Beca contemplated sadly her four family members who were wearing their masks obediently, and were snuggled on the sofa with a blanket, sleeping against each other like a bunch of puppies. She sighed and took Noah up to their bedroom tucking him in his crib.

"You better stay here buddy, this is surviving or dying." Beca kissed him, let the baby monitor in the right place to have full view of the kid from her laptop, and went downstairs, where she got comfortable on the other sofa watching the sick people while keeping an eye on Noah thanks to the laptop.

In a couple days, Kamara was completely healthy, Beth was feeling somehow better, and Micah could breathe again and only sneezed once in a few hours. Chloe, however, was already permanently settled in bed with a high fever, and having Beca go up and down to make sure everyone was receiving attention.

One night, Beca and Chloe were in bed, Chloe snuggled in a ball trying to keep her coughs and sneezes away of Beca or any of their children, and Beca already knew it was, like always, a different kind of cold because this one had a headache too.

"You'll be okay soon, just a day more or two" Beca kissed Chloe's warm temple after giving her her medicines and then sat on the bed beside her with her back supported on the pillows and her laptop on her lap. She had kept herself working only to keep her mind busy "Hey look, your sister is on Skype and calling!"

"Which one?" Chloe muttered from under her mask and the covers.

"Hey Sophie!" Beca happily greeted the video caller at the same time she replied her wife. Beca loved Chloe's family, and she got surprisingly along with everyone. In other circumstances, Beca wouldn't have accepted the video call so Chloe could rest, but they hadn't known much about her family in some time, so Beca knew without asking Chloe would love to hear, even if she didn't feel like participating in the conversation.

"Hey Bec!" Sophie and her husband Seth smiled warmly at them. They were sitting in what seemed to be the sofa "In bed already?"

"Just making your sis company" Beca replied.

"And where would she be exactly?" Seth asked. Beca moved the laptop a bit and pointed to the ball next to her. Chloe was in a fetal position, giving her back to Beca, and with the covers so high you could only see a bunch of ginger hair.

"That ball there would be Chloe. She's sick" Beca explained, putting the laptop facing her again. Sophie frowned.

"Sick?" Sophie asked.

"The flu. Beth got it in school, where many kids have gotten sick and since Chloe works there, it was a matter of time. Micah and Kai also got sick, but Kai is already good and back in class, and Micah and Beth are almost new. Chloe just got sick the other day." Beca explained "How are you guys? The kids?"

"The kids are all good, happy with class and doing fine." Seth replied, and Beca nodded with a tiny smile.

"And we are pretty good too" Sophie added sharing a smile with her husband "So you're the survival as always, yeah?"

"And hopefully I won't get sick too, that's why Chloe's being such a sweetheart taking all the care to not make me sick" Beca smiled down at Chloe stroking her back.

"Is she asleep?" Sophie asked "I don't wanna bother her."

"No, she's just feverish and crappy, but she wanted to hear you." Beca said, and Chloe gave a thumbs up getting a hand out of the covers.

"Perfect sis, hang in there lion" Sophie smiled and Chloe sat in bed, deciding she just felt too bad to sleep, and hugged Beca's side, and Beca put an arm around her and kissed her hair. Since Chloe had her mask on and also wasn't face to face with Beca, she wasn't worried about getting sick like that.

"I feel like crap" Chloe said opening her eyes to look at her sister, who smiled sadly "You look good, new blouse?"

"You noticed! Seth gave it to me, it goes with my eyes" Sophie grinned.

"Oh, sick and you can't still notice your sister's beauty" Beca pressed her lips against Chloe's head.

"Wanna sleep" Chloe said with her raspy voice closing her eyes.

"Okay, we're going to sleep now" Beca said looking at Sophie and Seth.

"Goodnight, take care!" Sophie waved at them and Beca turned her laptop off and put it aside, snuggling with Chloe, being the big spoon behind her favorite ginger.

"I love you Chloe" Beca whispered in the dark, and she fell asleep.

Beca came back home with Noah in her arms from walking Kamara to kindergarten, to find Beth and Micah already entertained with some cartoons and drinking their healthy juices while wrapped up in blankets. They looked much better, even smiley, and you wouldn't know they were sick if there weren't plenty of Kleenex around them. Chloe and Beca were completely against letting their children back to school unless they weren't completely healthy, even if they were just coughing a little, for two reasons. One, they could get other kids worse. Two, they were more vulnerable and could get more ill, or feel worse with the classes.

"I see you are already feeling much better, uh?" Beca smiled standing next to the sofa looking at her children.

"Yes momma!" Beth smiled "And this juice is much better than the green one."

"So delicious" Micah smiled with his mouth orange from the juice, and Beca giggled shaking his hair.

"Okay, I'm going to check on your mamma" Beca said letting Noah in his crib in the living and then climbing upstairs, and found Chloe sitting on the side of their bed, coughing strongly hugging herself with one arm and supporting her head with her other hand "Aw, baby." Beca sat beside Chloe and hugged her against her.

"Go away, I'll make you sick" Chloe said hoarsely.

"I don't care" Beca said kissing her on the cheek "It's you who need me now" Chloe snuggled closer to her and Beca hugged her tighter "Let me see how is that fever going" Beca took Chloe's face between her cheeks and pressed her lips against her forehead "Okay, it's higher, so you're gonna lay down and rest, and I'm gonna make you some magic soup against colds, grandma's recipe."

Beca tucked Chloe into bed again, and once the soup was ready, she was back and giving it to Chloe like if she was feeding a one year old.

"And here goes the plane from Magic Soup Airport to Beautiful Ginger Airport, preparing to land!" Beca said excitedly with a smile as she flew a spoon towards Chloe's mouth, that Chloe opened with a tiny smile "Oh, it appears that all the travelers of the plane 007 to Beautiful Ginger Airport have been eaten!" Beca made a horrified face and Chloe giggled, making Beca smile.

"You have no remedy" Chloe said less hoarsely with a tiny smile.

"You begged me to marry you, you love me" Beca grinned filling another spoon "Mayday, mayday, we're about to be eaten by a stunning woman, mayday!" she yelled giving Chloe more soup. Chloe gulped and laughed "Most beautiful sound in the world" Beca leaned and kissed Chloe on the cheek "I love you."

"I love you more" Chloe said before putting her face aside to cough a bit "So what does this magic soup have exactly?"

"Noodles, veggies, and three hundred pounds of love" Beca explained, and Chloe smiled a bit accepting another spoon of soup into her mouth "That was the last one. Now, to sleep! You better hide yourself properly under those covers before police gets you arrested for eating two hundred travelers alive."

Beca tucked Chloe and pressed kisses around her face before going back to the kitchen.

Some days later all the kids were perfectly fine and back at class, and Chloe was feeling much better, sitting on the sofa and watching a movie with Noah and a blanket while Beca sat at the table to work on her music.

"Hey, did I tell you that Eva is pregnant?" Beca asked suddenly.

"Really?" Chloe looked at her.

"Yeah, he called me the other day... three months. They didn't want to tell until they were sure. Apparently it's a girl, they want to call her Susan."

"Oh, so sweet. They are going to have the couple!"

"Yeah" Beca smiled looking at her "Wait a second, Angie sent me a mail!" Beca opened it to read it and then squealed "Angie and Amy are moving to our neighbourhood!"

"What?" Chloe yelled excitedly.

"Yeah!" Beca grinned "Angie says Amelia has been offered a great job here in Norfolk, and since they're kind of sick of Los Angeles and Angie's family is from here, they thought it would be a great change. They've bought a house a few streets away from here. God, it's awesome!"

"So many good news is like Christmas. Make sure you offer us to help them with anything."

"Oh, I'm gonna do more than that. I'm gonna offer Angie a job at my company."

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	20. Chapter 20

_The support for this story is being very disappointing, but thanks to my two loyal reviewers. This chapter is happy but has a surprise. Big surprise. Woww! LEAVE REVIEWS. Feedback matters._

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 **Chapter 20: 2028.**

Months went by quickly, and soon, Noah was six months old, and the family travelled to Tampa to spend the New Year's Eve with the Beales, after having been in New York for Thanksgiving and in Atlanta for Christmas. They always rotated the celebrations so they could spend one with each family and the other with their best friends. Angela and Amelia were also settled in Norfolk already, and Wyatt and Eva were four months away from having their second child, their daughter Susan.

"Aren't you the cutest?" Chloe smiled as she played with Noah in the carpet of her parents' living room. The boy was now learning to crawl and was such a smiley boy. His siblings played with him a lot, but now they were entertained with their cousins. One of them was Samuel Grint, Gwen's youngest son, that was born just three months before Noah, and he was also sitting close by with Gwen, the sisters chatting while playing with their little sons.

"Micah looks more like Beca, but this one isn't much behind!" Gwen smiled at Noah, who smiled in return. He had a messy wavy brown hair, and dark blue eyes, and as he grew up, they had seen it had Beca's hair, color and form of the eyes, some expressions, the same smile, the lips, and the height, although that could be because Noah had been premature.

"Yeah, sometimes they smile just the freakin' perfect same way" Chloe giggled pinching Noah's ass softly when the kid was about to crawl towards his cousin, and the boy squealed and sat down looking at Chloe with a tiny smile before falling with his back against the floor and pulling a fist into his mouth while making some noises. His cousin lied next to him and shook a rattle in the air.

Beca, George and Cormac came talking between them and sat on the sofa after saying hi to them. Chloe farted against Noah's belly and he smiled making a noise that was kind of a laugh and kicking the air. Then he crawled towards Beca and extended his arms helplessly towards her, making some noise.

"Hey buddy" Beca smiled at him, and he frowned and made an upset noise, his eyes watery "Hey, hey, don't you cry!" Beca took him in her arms and sat him on her lap, and while she kept talking with their family, Noah fell asleep on her lap.

Later that afternoon, Beca was pacing around Chloe's bedroom, Noah asleep against her shoulder, and she was contemplating all the pictures Chloe had around her bedroom, some of them had been put long after Chloe moved out of that house by her parents, and it was funny to see photographs of a eighteen or twenty one year old Chloe, surrounded by all the Bellas or other friends, and then next to it a photograph of Chloe with Beca in their wedding, or years later with their children, because Chloe was just still as beautiful as she was with eighteen years old, if not more, than with thirty something. And there were many photos of her four children around, like the first photo Chloe and Beca ever made of Kamara, when they started with the adoption paperwork but hadn't yet been given the privilege of being her mothers, and Beca had made a beautiful photograph that they had emailed everyone saying they were going to adopt that beauty. Her grandparents had already started calling her their granddaughter back then, and sometimes they asked Chloe or Beca _well, when are those morons going to bring you my granddaughter?_ They had just celebrated Kai's third birthday the twenty ninth.

"Hello gorgeous" Chloe said smiling as she entered the bedroom and hugged Beca from behind, kissing Noah's hairy head "How are two of the most amazing things in the world?"

"Cheesy" Beca smiled kissing her on the lips "We're good, this one is more than good I believe. You?" she added looking at Chloe.

"I'm fine, pretty excited with the New Year." Chloe went to her bed, that now was kind of their bed, and sat there being soon joined by Beca and Noah "Can you believe this is the tenth end of the year we've spent together?"

"Tenth? We've done this together ten times already?" Beca smiled proudly "If we didn't have four children to look after now and mostly this one, you have no idea how many things I would come up with to celebrate with you."

"Oh yeah?" Chloe smiled putting a hand on Beca's back and the other on her thigh, kissing Beca on the lips "And where would that happen exactly?"

"This bed" Beca kissed her "Maybe the counter" kiss "on top of the washing machine" kiss "the swimming pool" kiss "the car..."

"Beca" Chloe moaned against her lips.

There was a knock at the doorframe, because the door was already open, and they pulled apart suddenly. Sophie was by the door.

"It's time girls, let's go kick this year's ass!"

"Time to say goodbye to this beautiful year" Charles smiled looking at his watch. The twenty two members of the family were in the garden, waiting for the New Year to start with, many of them, fireworks ready.

Grandma Anna was carrying her grandchild Kamara in her arms, Cormac and Gwendoline, Chloe's youngest sister, carried baby Sam and were also surrounded by their eldest, Owen, and his cousin Katherine, who had now twelve years old and was the second child of George, the firstborn of Anna and Charles, and Hannah, his wife, and also John, George and Hannah's firstborn, was next to his sister. Next to them were their parents, the dad holding Parker Gavigan, the five year old and third child of Sophie, the second of the Beale siblings, and her husband Seth, that were also close by with their older kids, Emma, age twelve, and Edith, age eight. Chloe and Beca were somewhere between all of them with Noah being carried by Chloe, and Micah close by. Beth had gone to Edith's side.

"Okay, ten, nine!" Charles started the counting back and everyone followed.

"Eight, seven, six, five!"

"Three, two" Beca and Chloe locked eyes "Happy new year 2028!" Beca took Chloe's chin, and kissed her passionately. Six months ago, she thought she would never get to see that day.

The kids yelled and squealed and the first fireworks joined their neighbors' fireworks in the air, forming beautiful and colorful forms. Beca and Chloe smiled as Noah, who had awoken with all the yelling, squealed, bouncing in Chloe's arms, extending his arms to the sky.

The family had planned to stay a week more with the Beales so the kids could make a good use of their vacations to see a part of the family altogether they barely got to see. _Bulletproof Productions_ had some employees already working after the first three days of the year, because they had the administrative department, the first revisions of equipment of the year, all the new year albums coming out... it was a rush of work. Beca, however, finished her maternal leave right after the holidays, that for most of her employees including herself, finished a bit more than a week after the end of the year, like Chloe's.

To celebrate the New Year, the family did karaoke night at a place they knew and had been at several times, where many families went with their children and they always had a great time, even having children so young, because they had a lot of people to watch over them and they could always put them in their baby carriages or strollers. Of course a family where almost everyone knew how to play at least one instrument and sing would love the karaoke, and even more one where many parents just sang with their children.

Beca and Chloe, pushed by the family and between laughs, went to the stage, and Chloe took a guitar while Beca took the micro, both sitting on stools, and Chloe started playing and Beca started singing.

" _You sit in the bathroom and you paint your toes. I sit on the bed right now and I sing you a song… It's not always easy, but somehow our love stays strong, if I can make you happy, then this is where I belong… And I'd just like to say I thank God that you're here with me. And I know you too well to say you're perfect, but you'll see, oh my sweet love, you're perfect for me. I know all your secrets, and you know all of mine. You're always there to hold me up when I'm losing my mind. I wish that I was stronger so that I had more to give, I'll share everything I have and we'll find a way to live."_ Beca sang beautifully while Chloe played the guitar and everybody listened closely or danced. Then Chloe joined Beca singing while playing, as the local's guitarists joined with their guitars too. " _I know all your secrets, and you know all of mine. You're always there to hold me up when I'm losing my mind. I wish that I was stronger so that I had more to give, I'll share everything I have and we'll find a way to live. Even after all this time, nothing else I ever find in this whole wide world can shake me like you do. It's true that something so sublime that there aren't words yet to describe, the beauty of this life I've made with you_ " Beca and Chloe were staring sweetly at each other and gave each other a quick kiss, not able to hold back any longer " _And I'd just like to say, I thank God that you're here with me, and I know you too well to say you're perfect, but you'll see oh my sweet love… You're perfect for me. And I know you too well to say you're perfect, but you'll see oh my sweet love… You're perfect… Oh my love I swear you're perfect… Yes I promise, you're perfect… for me_ " and they kissed while everyone applauded them.

Then after that song, the women of the family went with _Girls just wanna have fun_ and other old stuff from when they were teens or toddlers.

At past six, Beca was carrying Noah in one arm, and helping the a little bit drunk Chloe walk towards their bed. After putting the asleep baby in his crib, Beca helped Chloe change clothes, changed herself, and lied on the bed with Chloe, cuddling against her.

"I swear" Chloe murmured with her eyes closed "I'm not usually like this. I don't want a pretty girl like you to think I'm a drunkie." Beca giggled.

"I know you aren't honey, we've been together for almost ten years remember? And married for soon to be eight" Beca said kissing the sleepy girl, who barely opened her eyes a bit smiling against her lips.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Wow" Chloe's smile widened "I'm such a lucky girl. Do I make you happy?"

"The happiest nothing has or will ever make me."

"Good" Chloe smiled. One second later, she breathed deeply, asleep, and Beca grinned.

"Sleep sweet love, rest those pretty eyes of yours" Beca put a hand on Chloe's neck and kissed her on the lips, before falling asleep hugged onto her.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Chloe laughed.

"I can't believe I was that drunk. But drunkie me was right, I'm such a lucky girl." Chloe giggled hugging Beca and kissing her.

They were in the shower after having made love there, and they were just cleaning themselves.

"If you don't stop, I'll go for round three, and we may not depend on condoms, but we do have a newborn that will probably wake up in seconds" Beca said between kisses.

"Right" Chloe giggled, stepping out of the shower and wrapping herself in a towel.

"For a woman that will soon be in her forties, I gotta admit girl, you're as hella sexy as when we first met, even more I'd say" Beca said biting her lip as she saw Chloe wrap a towel around herself. Chloe looked at her over her shoulder, and winked.

"Coming, Mitchell?"

"A second, I need a cold shower" Beca replied, and Chloe laughed getting out of the bathroom.

When Beca got out of the bathroom, she saw Chloe looking rather depressed, sitting on the side of the bed with Noah in her arms.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Beca said sitting next to her.

"You're right. I hadn't thought about it, but I'll be thirty eight in three months, and soon I'll be in my forties, even worse, my fifties, half of my life or less!" Chloe said panicking a little.

"Chloe, it's okay" Beca rubbed her back and kissed her cheek "This is what we committed with, this is what we've always wanted, to grow old together. One day we'll be in our eighties, and we will still have awesome sex, and be hella sexy, and what's more important, we will still make each other laugh like crazy and feel like the most beloved thing in the world. It's alright. Look around the room, it's full of proof you've only gotten sexier with the years, and more beautiful, what worries you? Did anything change when we discovered our first white hairs?"

"You're right" Chloe nodded and looked at Beca "But it's just so little time left to do stuff… and the health issues that come with age, and… what if nothing is how we expected? What if is all crap and we find ourselves only wanting to die soon?" Beca kissed her.

"Don't be afraid of not having time enough. With us, it will never be enough, even if we had two hundred years together, but it'll be okay, we'll be ready when the time comes, and we'll just confront the next great adventure after life, and one day, the other will join, and we'll be together for eternity. We'll just have to be brave to be without the other for a bit, but we'll do it, I know we will, because we will do it with the promise of an eternity together." Beca stroke her cheek "If it's crap, we've been through crap before, and even if we are deader than alive, or suffering, we'll be together Chloe. We'll always love each other, we'll always take care of each other, I'm not afraid because I know you'll be there with me through whatever comes, and we'll never be wanting to die, we'll enjoy until the very last second, and our children will be there too, and will always love us, and take care of us, and make sure our lives are good until the end. Chloe, my life has never been what I expected it to be, but year by year, it has been better than I could've ever imagined. You made it better. And as long as I've got you and our amazing children, I know it'll be a great adventure for as long as it comes, an amazing trip with the love of my life. I'm not worried, and you shouldn't be either." Chloe smiled sweetly at her, kissing her and supporting her head on her shoulder.

"Promise you'll never leave? Even if I'm grumpy, old, sick, ugly, smelly, and do everything on myself?" Chloe asked in a whisper, and Beca laughed.

"Wasn't I already in love with our children from the first minute, even if they came smelly, grumpy, crying nonstop, dirty as fuck, and basically sucked the life out of us and sometimes were pretty ugly?" Beca said, and Chloe laughed softly "Of course I won't leave, I will love you. I will always love you, you silly dork."

"Cheesy" Chloe sat straight and kissed her again "Every time I think I couldn't possibly love you more, Mitchell, every single time" she shook her head smiling "You exceed my expectations. I love you so much."

A couple days after, they were hanging around the house one afternoon, and while the children were very busy having lots of fun together, excited to see each other and be able to spend time with each other, Beca and Chloe with Noah went to sit in the living room, on the sofas, where the other adults were with Sammy, Parker and Kamara, the youngest.

"Oh God, a bomb?" Anna said pointing to the TV, that was on mute and was showing images of a big building covered in dark, black smoke, and some flames, that the firefighter were already almost done extinguishing. There was a sentence on the screen that said _Possible terrorist attack costs the lives of approximately fourteen workers_ "God Georgie darling, turn the volume up, where has that been?"

They listened in absolute silence, their eyes fixed on the screen, and their hearts beating painfully.

"We are seeing images of this morning" the reporter was saying "When an explosion that the investigations haven't yet figured if it was due to a bomb, a terrorist attack, or some failure in the electric system of the building, destroyed a quarter of the first three floors of the _Bulletproof Productions_ building in Norfolk, Virginia killing what until now we've been informed are believed to be nineteen employees…"

Everybody suddenly stared at Beca, who stared blankly at the screen, her thoughts in denial. She was pale and felt like fainting and throwing up all at once. Chloe shook her arm.

"Beca, check your phone!" Chloe demanded "It must be a mistake, they would've called you… check your cell!" Beca knew there was no mistake. She was starting to recognize the building between the smoke, and she had had her phone off all holidays so as not to be bothered. With trembling hands, she got her cell out of her pocket and turned it on "Sixty eight missing calls. Two hundred five texts" Chloe read in a whisper, and Beca almost threw up going through tons of desperate messages, some from people that had been working all day at that building and were asking for help, but most of them for people telling her in capital letters and exclamation marks what had just happened.

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	21. Chapter 21

_Okay I'm sorry for the delay, but the reviews have been disappointing and I just started classes again ;D bye holidays…_

 _WARNING (SPECIALLY FOR THOSE PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE ABOUT SEPTEMBER 11_ _TH_ _2009, OR ANY OTHER BUILDING-COLLAPSING CATASTROPHE) this chapter deals with episodes of city catastrophe that may affect the sensitivity of some readers._

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 **Chapter 21: Names and stories.**

Beca stopped and breathed deeply, calling Wyatt quickly.

"Beca, finally" he answered.

"I just saw the news" Beca said pulling through her shock "Wyatt. W-What…? What?!"

"I know, I was in shock too. Just breathe deeply Beca. Listen, I saw it on the news this morning, I called you many times! I was in Canada, with Eva's family, but right now I'm an hour away from landing in Norfolk. Where are you?"

"Florida" Beca replied "With the Beales. Wyatt I… I don't… what the fuck?!" she sobbed. And Chloe rubbed her back with tears in her own eyes. Beca had worked there for almost eight years, years of knowing everybody there, having parties together, dinners, lunches, celebrations, meeting each others families… they were a huge family there. And now nineteen of them were dead. And the others, who knew "Are you alive? You weren't… you weren't…"

"I wasn't there, I was coming in tomorrow. I'm alive, I'm alright. Angela is fine too, I called her, she called you too. She wasn't there either, but we've been contacting everybody we could that we knew had to be there, and we don't have names of the dead yet, and there are like forty something injured, around half of them very badly, but others were perfectly fine, just emotionally destroyed, but we checked on them and they told us… well, the same the news did really" Wyatt explained "I called police too, they said they called you, and that you needed to go there so they could tell you all they figured out. Angie went to the hospital to check with everybody, I'm gonna go there too. You book the first flight you can here, calm down, breathe deeply, and pull yourself together, okay? We gotta be strong. Call me when you're in the plane, I'll pick you up and we'll go find the cops that know everything. We'll get answers."

"Okay" Beca nodded rubbing her eyes, breathing deeply "Okay, I can do that. I'll be there soon, I'll take a jet or something… I'll call you. I'll call Angie and the cops too. I'll send a global text to all the employers to let them know that we're taking the bull by its horns. I'll call my manager too, better than any of the info leaks to press before the families know. They have to be the firsts to know."

"I agree. We'll get to the bottom of this boss. See you later!"

"See you!" Beca hung up, and looked around. Everybody was staring at her, and she breathed deeply one last time, and felt herself strong again, and very pissed off, which made her stronger "I have to go immediately. I'll go pack my bags, Wyatt is about to arrive to Norfolk and Angie is already there and in the hospital trying to get information about the deaths and the wounded, so Wyatt is going to join her and then he'll pick me up and we'll go find the police. I have to go."

"Go, I'll call Angie" Chloe said, gave her a quick peek on the lips and, carrying Noah better, stood up, followed by Beca.

Beca's manager and Wyatt met her at the airport in Norfolk, and they were in the police station half an hour later. Apparently, they suspected it had been a bomb that was placed inside of a package of the mail that arrived the company daily and was never opened or checked for bombs or anything. The building hadn't fallen after the explosion, that had happened in the second floor, in a corner of a building, shattering that floor and the one under and over it, but only one corner of the building, and the firefighters had already declared it safe to be inside. The deaths had ascended to twenty three, and their bodies, or parts of them, were in the morgue. Their names were all confirmed and written on a list that was given only to Beca, who didn't dare to read them yet.

The three of them joined Angela at the hospital, and then, after talking with the doctors, Beca was given a list of forty five names of all the wounded employees the hospital had admitted, a list completed by a sentence or two about what wounds they had, and how bad they were. Beca spent three hours going room after room, talking with the ones that could talk, or just sitting for a bit with the ones that couldn't, and if she couldn't get into someone's room, she would stand for ten or fifteen minutes watching them from the window of their rooms. Then, she went down to the morgue, and went death body by death body, checking their names in the list, and was told the sixteen people from the list that were there had been identified by their pieces. Beca didn't let a tear drop the whole time, even if her eyes were swollen and red. She knew each of her employees, even the mail guys who only came one time per day or per week, she had spoken with everybody. She had devoted herself to be the best job and gain personal connections with everybody beyond their work. Learn names, faces, find reasons to appreciate them. Two days more, and everybody would have been there, that day only a third of the total of employees were there. Only a third. Sixty eight employees of a total of two hundred four, the sixty eight were all people Beca had in her archives that were all that had to be there. She thought maybe it was luck, but still every freaking dead hurt so deep, and she knew many of the most badly injured would join that list before the week ended, but she, that never prayed, that hadn't prayed in God knows how long, prayed for them until she was crying too hard to keep going, that night, alone at her house.

Afterward, she lied on her bed, too big for her alone, and she sniffled cleaning her cheeks with her sleeve, turning her head to a side. With her eyes barely opened, she saw her nightstand, and in the alarm clock she saw it was past one in de morning, too late to call Chloe. But then, she was contemplating her cell on her nightstand, next to a framed picture of Beca and Chloe laughing while opening a champagne bottle on their wedding, and she decided to try. After the first _beep_ , Chloe answered.

"Hey" Chloe said tenderly "I was hoping you would call me." Beca breathed deeply. She was so lucky of having that woman.

"How was your day?" Beca asked, her voice lacking strength "How are the children?"

"My day wasn't really bad" Chloe replied "And they are fine. Noah was a bit upset you left, but he's asleep against my chest right now."

"Good" Beca nodded for herself "I should let you sleep…"

"We are in the living room with the adults. All the kids are sleeping, but we've been watching the news all day and we were too worried to go to sleep until you called. I was about to call if you didn't."

"I haven't had two seconds free until now" Beca explained "We've been up and down all day."

"Is it true what the news say?" Chloe asked "Sixty eight?"

"Yes. A third of the employees" Beca replied "Twenty three are dead. I saw seven of them, the others are dismembered."

"Twenty three… God Beca." Chloe sighed "I'll be there tomorrow. The plane arrives at noon. My family will take care of the children for a few days until everything clears up enough for them to be safe in Norfolk."

"I'll pick you up at the airport" Beca said.

"Is there anything you can do for them?" Chloe asked.

"Be there. I've spend all day in the hospital visiting the forty five wounded and the doctors say it's most likely that some of them will be dead before the weekend because some of them are very bad. Of course, there are also many that only have a few scratches or are just emotionally wounded. All of this is confidential, of course."

"I imagined" Chloe nodded "I know is not a priority, but do you still have a place to work or did it crumble down?"

"It's still standing, and the firefighters say there's no risk of demolition. A corner of the building was affected, nothing else. But there was a big fire, and smoke, and many people were injured inside, like the lungs. And then it was the part of the building where all the people that had to be there work, the other parts were practically empty because those are other departments of people that was still on holiday. I'll see the building tomorrow."

"It's a stupid question, but how are you doing?" Beca sighed.

"I don't know. I'm exhausted, but at the same time I don't think I'll be able to sleep, so I'll probably just go to the hospital again. All the families are there, and if somebody dies tonight, I'd like to be there" Beca replied "It was a stupid package, Chloe. And back in the day my chief of security suggested that packages went through some sort of X-Ray machine, but I thought it was being paranoid. This could've been avoided."

"It's not your fault" Chloe stated "And honestly, I don't think anything you could've done would have avoided that. It could have exploded inside the X-Ray machine, it could have been inside the bag of some client that wasn't really a client, it could have been left by the entry. Revising packages seems paranoid to me too, it's a music production company, not a government building, who would do something like that? It doesn't make sense."

"I've been thinking about that too" Beca said "What if it was a message to me Chloe? Attacking a music production company makes zero sense, but maybe they weren't attacking the company, but me."

"I don't know Beca…" Chloe seemed unsure.

"It wouldn't be the first time" Beca stated "I don't even know who I got pissed off this time. What did I do, say no to someone? Did I forget to pay something? Did I sleep with someone else's wife, or something?!"

"Becs, calm down" Chloe said "Listen, don't eat your brain out with that, let that to the police, okay?"

"Okay" Beca played with a ball of her cotton sweater "I never wanted any of this to happen." She interrupted the silence, and her voice was a bit broken as a silent tear fell down her cheek.

"I know sweetie" Chloe was using the same tone of voice she used when one of her students fell in the playground "You couldn't have done nothing to avoid this Beca, I'm just happy the rest of you were still on holiday or that could've been a real massacre."

"If I could've taken the punch for all of them…"

"You would have" Chloe interrupted "I know."

"All the parties we've had… and that one before the holidays. Had I known I would never see them again, and…" Beca shook her head, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

"Don't torture yourself Becs. Don't put yourself through more crap only because you think you deserve it because you don't. And it won't help you at all. It'll help no one."

"I have a text" Beca said feeling the phone vibe in her hand. She stared at the screen, and saw the brief text from the hospital "Keegan Reynolds, a barman from the cafeteria, just died. I have to get back to the hospital. His wife is there and they have a toddler and a teenager."

"Yeah, I remember him and his family" Chloe sighed "Okay, go. Beca."

"Yeah?"

"You're bulletproof, remember? You're allowed to feel the hit, but you're not allowed to let it destroy you inside, okay?" Beca sighed.

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too. Stay strong and try to sleep later, okay? I'll see you at noon." Beca opened her bedroom's door. In front of her, the girls' bedroom, to her left a bathroom.

She turned to her right, following the dark corridor, leaving the boy's bedroom at her left, and then another room that they used mostly as a place to save boxes and stuff. It was the end of the corridor, so she turned to her right, leaving a small room where the children could play with things that were too big to keep in their bedrooms, to her left, and next to this room was a tiny bathroom. She had her hand on the banister of the stairs' balcony and when that corridor ended, she faced a wall in the darkness before turning to her right, having the stairs at her right. The stairs that leaded to the attic were in the left of the stairs that leaded to the living-dining room, which she took, crossing paths with _Avery_ , their female cat that meowed on her way upstairs. Once in the living-dining room, she turned to her right, following a short corridor towards the entry, where she took her coat, putting it on again, and left the house, locking the door after her. Sleepy, she crossed their little porch and turned to her right to go to the garage. Her car, that they had left in Norfolk, was parked in front of the garage, and Chloe's car, a bigger, family car, was parked inside. Beca got into her car, and drove through the dark roads through the suburbs where they lived, crossing the city until she got to downtown, where the big skyscrapers and some other big, but not that big, buildings, like her company, also were. She got into the hospital's parking lot.

As she walked into the artificially illuminated white corridors, she couldn't avoid thinking on the number of times she had been there. When Beth was born, when Micah was born, sometimes they had doctors' appointments for them, or for Kai, when Noah was born, when Chloe was in a car crash, when Beca cut her finger and wouldn't stop bleeding, when Chloe fainted, when Beth got gastroenteritis, and so many other moments. And then there she was, walking towards the crying family that was gathering next to a room as they pulled a body covered in a blanket out of it.

A cushion flew through her living room that morning when Beca came back from the hospital, the sun already up and enlightening the room, and her raged scream resounding in the empty house. The cushion crashed against a wall and fell on _Billie-Jean_ 's bed, making her bark.

"Sorry _Billie_ " Beca apologized pressing a hand against her face and sighing. She had been awake for the last twenty six hours, and Chloe would be landing in less than two, so she decided to give herself a shower, try to have an apple and coffee for breakfast, and go to the _Bulletproof Productions_ building.

She walked to the empty company, the contrast of the zones that were completely shattered and destroyed, with the ones that had dust and blood, and the ones that were like new. Her office was in this last zone, and when she came in, and saw everything just as she left it around May or June, she started laughing hysterically. Twenty four people died there, but her office couldn't have been cleaner. There was only a little change and it was a frame on the wall that had twisted slightly because of the trembling of the building with the explosion. It was such a joke of the Universe, her laughs soon turned into cries, and she sat on her sofa, her face between her hands, until it was all out.

When Chloe launched herself to her arms wrapping her in the tightest hug ever, she almost cried again. But instead, she hugged her back, and hid her face on the crook of her neck. They pulled apart, and Beca let Chloe take her face between her hands softly, her penetrating blue eyes scanning Beca's, and then a sad smile appeared on her face.

"You haven't sleep one bit" Chloe whispered "Come on, we'll go home and you'll sleep." But in that exact moment, Beca's cell beeped, and with a knot in her throat and one only question in her mind, _who?_ Beca took her cell with trembling hands.

"Twenty five" Beca whispered.

"Who?"

"Jenna Jenkins" Beca replied "She worked on the third floor, she was a cleaning lady. The floor was destroyed under her feet. I saw her yesterday, it was a miracle she was still alive." Chloe nodded and took her suitcase while Beca took her bag.

"Let's go to the hospital then."

After being a shoulder to cry on, Beca went with Chloe back home. Beca sat on the sofa while Chloe made lunch, with her eyes closed but not falling asleep. They ate together and then Chloe handed Beca a mug.

"An infusion to sleep" Chloe explained to Beca's questioning eyes. Beca nodded taking a long sip "We'll sleep a bit now, and later you can keep doing your job, but you need to rest."

After the infusion, Beca felt so numb Chloe had to drag her to their bedroom, where they let themselves fall on their bed, Beca snuggled against Chloe, and fell asleep soon after.

The next day, Chloe's siblings came to bring them their kids and their other suitcases they left in Tampa, to spend the day and then go home the next morning. Jesse and Aubrey, who had heard everything on the news, came with their children. That day they were having all of them for lunch, together with Wyatt's family and Angela's. They were having lunch after Beca and Wyatt spend the morning in the hospital, when Beca's cell rang, and she went to take the call.

"Another one" Wyatt whispered when Beca went to another room.

"Many friends so far?" Aubrey asked.

"They were all our friends" Wyatt replied "After this many years, even the cleaning people."

"The cops don't even know what explanation it has yet" Angela added eating without much enthusiasm. Beca didn't come back until ten minutes later, and by that time, the children had already ran to the garden to play with _Billie_ "Bad news?"

"Indeed" Beca nodded shoving her phone on her pocket "Three more in the past five hours, Troian Adams, from the cafeteria, Ella Dix, from the mail people, and Lloyd Gowan, from the informatics team. And they'll doing one funeral to bury the twenty eight of them, some kind of typical act to say goodbye and stuff. Also, I've got a meeting afterwards with the administration team that will probably be long." Beca sat again and rubbed her temples.

"Are we going to like, close?" Wyatt asked.

"No" Beca replied "Some suggested it… but we are not closing. We'll just have a free month in the time they take to rebuild everything. Even if they've said the building is safe, I don't want anybody in there until it's rebuilt. And I'll make sure everybody is paid this month just like if they had been working, and we also need to prepare an economic compensation because even though it's not a failure from the company, many of the families lost the only person that had a job in their families, and they need money. I also offered to pay for the funerals, they deserve that at least."

"Sure" Chloe nodded looking at her "You okay?"

"Of course not Chloe" Beca whispered "But that's the last one of my problems. Those families are looking at me like I could say a word and fix everything, and I've lost family, I know what not to say, but I still have no idea what to say. What do you tell people that have lost their parents, siblings, partners or children because they were working because you sent them to their death?"

"You didn't send them to their deaths, a bomb did. You could've died too" Jesse reminded her "They were doing their jobs. Is like if you go to work or to school by bus, and the bus crashes and you die. It sucks and it's a huge kick in the ass, but is not your boss' fault they give you a job and money to keep your family alive and happy."

"Yeah, it's like the 11S, the ones to blame are the ones that put the bombs." George added.

"Talking about 11S, is terrorism dismissed already?" Sophie asked.

"Yes" Beca replied "The President called this morning because the White House was already getting their noses into this because it's an _offence to the United States_ , but I think it was the FBI that just said rests of the bomb have been found and it's a homemade one, but by people who have some kind of formation, not as much as military formation, but enough to create a bomb capable of blowing the corner of three floors. It didn't fit with the terrorist's style, so now they are interrogating the ones that were there but are good enough to be interrogated, and the families of everyone. They think it could be revenge, that somebody very nuts got really angry with an employee. They also interrogated us" She pointed to Wyatt and herself "and the administrative team, the big fishes of the company I guess. But they also say if it was something against one of us, who weren't going to be there, they would have done it when we were there, because it was so planned there's no way they didn't know when we were going back to work." Her cell sounded again and she just smashed it against her ear tiredly "Mitchell. Yeah, okay, right. I have no idea yet, miss Jenkins, but we'll know after a meeting later today and I'll send mails to everybody. Yes, I'll be there, the whole company will be. Don't worry, I'm taking care of everything alright? You just try to rest and relax for a bit, this afternoon will be exhausting enough. Bye…" she sighed turning the call off and leaving the cell on the table "The families are worried about everything they can be." She whispered.

"Don't take too much on your shoulders alright? I don't want you getting sick now" Chloe kissed her on the cheek.

"I know" Beca sighed "I'm going to take a shower, I think I'll be wearing the same shirt for three days straight and smelly bosses aren't welcome at their employees' burials."

After showering, Beca started getting ready for the ceremony. It was going to be a big ceremony with a few speeches from her, other co workers, and families, and then they would just bury them all in the cemetery. Elegant, but with soft –water proof- make up, with jewelry, but not in a way she seemed a rich bitch, and black dress, black jacket, black everything. She had done her speech the night before according to a few indications she had been given, but at the end she decided she wanted whatever she said to come from her heart in the moment, because how they were going to feel while listening to it would also come from the moment.

Half Norfolk was going to the ceremony, that would take part in the _Bulletproof Productions'_ auditorium, so it could fit more people, because the city had proclaimed a week of mourning and black flags or bracelets were visible here and there. Some politicians, like the Governor, were also going to be present and giving speeches. They had wanted to do it in some building of the government, but Beca spoke to the families and decided the best place was that one. The whole city was there, but the families, politicians, and the members of BP had privileged seats in the front, close to all the coffins that had been brought. Cameras weren't allowed, but some press was around taking notes. Beca greeted with warm hugs each employee that was there, included many victims from the bomb. After the families and the governor, Beca raised from her seat and walked to the podium and cleared her voice.

"Thanks Governor, thanks everybody for coming. Firstly I'd like to let you know that firefighters have assured me that the building is safe, but I'll try to be quick anyway. I'm Rebeca Mitchell, and I'm the founder and owner of _Bulletproof Productions_ ¸ but more than as that, I'm here as a friend, because here, we are all friends. We weren't just people that come here eight, ten, twelve hours per day sometimes, and work individually, we worked as a team, as we call them in here, there are the feeding team, the mail team, the numbers team, the administrative team, the info nerds, the technicians, the musicians, the composers, the law team, the cleaning team… everybody. And we work together as a family, and that's how it's been since January 2019, when we got here in this same room all together, and partied all night long for the new beginnings. This was my new beginning, I moved here from LA to begin again, and this company has been my dream ever since I can remember, and I will never forget each person that made it possible every single day, and that will keep making it possible from now on. We all knew each other and our families pretty well, we celebrated birthdays together, company events, and to be honest, every day was kind of a party here, and we went out so frequently I've seen more hangovers here in eight years than in all the years of my life, and with that I only want to mean that we were friends before co-workers. And that we aren't pretending to care, we do care, and we are all together in our anger and our deep sadness for this tragedy" Beca cleared her throat again and got a paper out of her pocket with all the names of the dead "Co-workers, I'd like to let you know we'll have a meeting ourselves in private soon… but yeah, now I'd like our twenty eight dear friends to be remembered individually, and not as some dizzy mass that most people don't even know their names. So I'll tell you all who these people were. Tatiana Harrods, receptionist and occasional nanny, at least for my kiddos" in the wall at the end of the stage appeared a giant picture of her, as it happened with each name Beca read "Garrett Wilkinson, our biggest specialist with technologies, like our handyman. Keegan Reynolds, barman, he worked at the cafeteria and entertained himself drawing hearts in our cappuccinos" she smiled at the memory, contemplating his name on the paper "Troian Adams worked in the cafeteria too, and she made the best toasts. Ella Dix, a wonderful lady who brought the mail every morning with the sweetest smile. Lloyd Gowan, from the informatics team. Jenna Jenkins, she kept my office and many other parts of this building clean. Denise Atwelk, she was a programmer. Wendel Russ, he worked in our studios." She kept going, name after name, after the twenty eight names were mentioned "You were our friends, and I'm so sorry this happened at our place, where you were supposed to be safe. We'll miss you and we'll keep you in our hearts, forever."

That night, Beca felt the sleeping Chloe hugged to her as she contemplated the dark ceiling of their bedroom. She couldn't sleep, but this time, it was only because her mind wouldn't shut up. She felt like if her heart was being tightened in a fist, and she was thinking of how present death had been in her life in the past nine years. She had lost her brother, mother, sister in law, nephew, she had lost a baby, she had lost all these friends, they had lost Noah, Chloe's best friend after whom they had named their son. She closed her eyes and let one tear travel down her cheek.

During the night, nobody else died.

* * *

 **Please leave reviews!**


	22. Chapter 22

_This chapter gets very very sexy and +18 so… you've been warned ;)_

 _So, I know it's been long… guess what, life got in the middle. I am abandoning the writing of Pitch Perfect for now (I've written so many bechloe stories it feels like it's time to take a break) and I'm gonna be writing original stuff down in fiction press, but it feels right to first give you all the last few chapters of my uncompleted bechloe stories. Merry Christmas you all._

Chapter 22: Through thick and thin.

"Will I see you soon, boss?" a bandaged hand landed tenderly over a thin hand that rested on a scratched arm, and hopeful eyes reached blue ones.

"Tomorrow" Beca replied with a kind smile, looking at her employee "Don't die on us today, uh, Jordan?"

"I'll be okay, I promise" the man said from his bed with a tiny smile.

"Good. Ginger is taking care of the cubs, but she sends her love" Beca squeezed his arm "See you."

"See you! Tell her I say hi!"

Beca left the hospital and gripped the steering wheel with both her hands, sighing deeply. It had been two days since twenty eight of her employees were buried, and that night, another one had died. That morning, another, so she took a chance and visited everyone again. She had been in the hospital for the last three hours. Sitting back on her seat, not turning the engine on yet, she took her wallet out of her jacket and opened it. The picture was her bed from the feet of it. Beca and Chloe were lying on the bed, their heads on the feet of the bed and their feet near the pillows, and they were laughing. Baby Noah was between them, lying facing the ceiling with his hands on the air trying to take a rattle Noah, kneeling at his feet, was waving in the air over him with a giggle. Kamara was sitting between Chloe's legs playing with their cat, _Avery_ , that had climbed on Chloe's back, and Beth was jumping on the bed around her mothers' feet playing with _Billie_. It had started as a serious family photo where everyone was posing nicely, but then things had turned crazy, and it was Beca's favorite photograph, everyone loved it really, and it had become the photograph of their Christmas cards for their family.

Beca wondered what would they do without her. Or what would she do without them. Breathing deeply, she shoved the wallet on the pocket again, and turned the engine on. They were having the Swansons, Sophie's family that was visiting, Chloe's parents, her dad, Angela's family and the Lightwoods at home for lunch, and Beca was already a bit late to help prepare lunch. Their families had come out of worry and also, wanting to be close in case they could help with anything. They were arriving that morning, but Beca had to go to the hospital around four when they called her, then she slept in her office for a couple hours, and then she had a couple meetings until she had to go again to the hospital, so she hadn't helped Chloe with anything.

She didn't even had time to announce she was home before her three elders wrapped her in a group hug, and she smiled at them. Her godchildren and nephew and nieces also welcomed her warmly, and then she walked towards the noise, finding everyone in the living room preparing the table.

"Finally!" Chloe walked quickly towards her and hugged her. Then she kissed her and Beca felt her eyes judging the bags under her eyes "How many more?"

"Two" Beca replied "Hey dad!" she hugged her father tightly. Sheila had work and Addie school. Now that she thought about it, her children didn't have problem with school because with the mourning official days, it was cancelled in Virginia, but her godchildren and her nephew and nieces couldn't stay more than that weekend probably. She greeted everyone else and then she looked at Chloe "Can I have the quickest shower ever? I don't remember when I had the last one."

"Run!" Chloe slapped her ass playfully and she ran upstairs.

When she came back, she was right in time to sit for food.

"So thirty, uh?" Charles looked at Beca with the severe look she well knew.

"Thirty" Beca nodded "But the good news is that the others in the hospital seem stable, so they shouldn't die. The bad ones, thirty is quite a number, and like I was so well reminded today, they are my employees apart from friends, which means I have to find replacements for each of them. And I have to do it soon instead of wait until things have cold down a bit because we can't work with thirty persons less now that it's when we are busier. But of course, good luck telling a New Yorker musician their new video has to wait a couple weeks more and avoiding a report. Who am I kidding, there are more bad news than good ones, much more."

"I saw Olivia today, Marty's wife" Wyatt commented looking at Beca "I expected her to be worse honestly, but that woman is crazy strong." Beca nodded.

"Yeah."

"No more meetings any time soon at least right? You didn't even have breakfast today" Chloe said.

"No, I think everything that has to be said has been." Beca replied "I wasn't hungry at four in the morning honestly, but I ate something earlier today. My stomach knows what time it is better than I do fortunately. Angie I swear things this crazy aren't common with that company, it's the most normal thing I know at least. Or used to be."

"I know" Angie nodded taking a sip of wine "Hey, and has the murdered been caught yet?"

"No" Beca replied "But the FBI is looking for them. Why didn't the FBI intervene when our family was murdered dad?" she added looking at her dad "I was thinking about it on my way home, I hadn't realized before."

"Probably because then you weren't as important as today" he replied "We were just a family from Maine with some crazy stuff going on, imagine how many times that happens in America and FBI don't do shit about it. But I don't think it would've made a difference for better."

"Well mom could've been alive at least" Beca replied "But ten years later it's not the time for that I guess. I just hope FBI catches these bastards and kills them instead of failing miserably."

"They have so much pressure it may help" Seth said.

"Yeah, with the president behind them, they better be effective" Anna added.

They fell into silence each in their thoughts until Sophie interrupted.

"I just remembered… Beca wasn't a new album of yours supposed to come out last summer?"

"Yes" Beca nodded "But I wasn't healthy for that. And it was postponed to around now, but now with this, it's not an option. So it will just happen someday whenever that has to be."

"What bad starts, well ends" Chloe commented "You know, with the style this year has to start, it has to end properly."

"Love, at this point I'm happy with just having everyone of us alive until next year." Beca said. Chloe sighed and squeezed one of Beca's hands over the table. Beca's cell sounded and she sighed soundly before picking it up "Beca Mitchell" she said tiredly "Oh, hey sir. Sir, I already gave the FBI all the information they asked for, I talked to them, my employees were instructed to talk to them, and now it's up to them… no sir, I won't close my company, we're taking a small break and that's all there is, if FBI wants to come in or out as they please, they can, I already told them, but I won't be closing up because anybody is afraid, if my people is too afraid to come to work, that's okay, but it'll be open and working. Sir, with all due respect, I do care, but I think you're wrong, and until you have better reasons and actual proves that it could be dangerous to do otherwise, I won't close. It's not a matter of money sir, is a bigger thing and you know that, I can't go against laws and contracts, so no sir. Look, that's it, with all due respect, I already went through two meetings today, this has already been talked about and in consensus, we all agreed! So let me have dinner with the family I haven't seen in a day in peace, and call me tomorrow, if I wanted to not see my people in days, I would be president. Cut the crap sir, I'm not in the mood to stand your ego, if you want my respect, you'll have to earn it with something more than your position, because nine letters say nothing to me, and I've already shut my mouth long enough. It's your job to keep us safe, do it, and don't dare to tell me how to do my job, because I've done it for more years than you've even been trying to be president, and I'm pretty damn good at it. Good night Mr. President." She hung up and stared at Chloe in exasperation.

"The President of the United States of America just called me, and you know why the dumb asshole wanted?" Beca snapped.

"What?" Chloe asked focusing on her eyes.

"Without proper reasoning, he _advised_ " she made quotation marks in the air "me to shut down _Bulletproof Productions_ until further advice to avoid any other possible attacks when we open again next month. That, after this morning, I was forced against my will to discuss the very same topic with him and with FBI via videoconference for an hour, and after the company lawyers, consultants, Wyatt, all the directors of the mini teams in the company, and me, already discussed it for another hour and got an agreement. And now he calls me to try to convince me the decision we all made in consensus should be changed without even taking into consideration everybody else's opinions! I mean, who the fuck does he think he is?"

"The President of USA" George replied for her, and Chloe nodded.

"That's what he said! But I told him that means nothing to me, he will need the FBI to have actual reasons to suspect opening could be dangerous, which they don't have as they already said this morning, and he will need a court order to make me bend against my will this time." Beca sighed and shoved the fork full of food into her mouth looking exhausted "Gawd, I hawte gwen thee are egowcentric" she gulped "assholes!"

"Beca you need to sleep, seriously" Aubrey said "Maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea, better prevent than cure, right? You would just need to have another meeting and ask people if they think it would be a good idea to be overly cautious. You're just too tired to think straight."

"Aubrey, if it was just a matter of being cautious, I would do it without thinking twice, I don't want my friends and employees to die for my stubbornness, but it's bigger than that, and the President knows it" Beca breathed deeply to speak more calmly "Because of New Year, I've got many important, powerful clients, that after having been preparing their New Year albums with me for months, or for an entire year even, want their albums to come out in January at all costs, because nobody wants a New Year music album in March, and they would lost a lot of money. They are very strict and the contracts are even more cautiously signed. I already had to call them and let them now we had to shut down in January, which pissed them off and they almost reported the company, but because the President and the FBI are involved, and many people died and there was an actual bomb, they realized it was big and that there was nothing I could do, and they accepted February through clenched teeth" she explained to the others, that new nothing about those kinds of things and listened closely "But I can't call them and tell them we are shutting off until further advice, because then, they will report me, many of them aren't even Americans and for them FBI or our President is nothing, so they don't care, they just want to sell and gain their money and they are already losing enough for their liking. And if they put all their rage against me, not all my money will keep us from bankrupt, I'll have to shut _Bulletproof Productions_ down forever, hundreds of employees fired. The emergency committee of the company together with the FBI and the President himself we all already discussed this and realized it was a bad idea and FBI said for now there is no reason to do it and now the President wants to go over all of our opinions and do his will."

"Why would the President do something that he knows it could be so damaging for all of you?" Seth asked.

"Because he doesn't care" Beca replied "This year there are elections, so he just wants to seem like the good, prudent President to everybody. But he doesn't have thirteen years of experience in business management like I do. He just sees the bigger picture of a country and does what he believes it's best, and it's not. If I wasn't doing the right thing, I wouldn't have everybody's support, he can't come and pretend he knows more about my business and my job than I do, he doesn't know how to do my job."

That night Beca went to bed with the biggest headache she remembered having in a very long time, and woke up with the first rays of sunshine. She opened her eyes feeling a bit disoriented, and then felt Chloe's arm around her belly, and heard her breathing behind her, feeling her head against her back. Beca rolled over, and smiled contemplating the shinning red mop and the most beautiful face she had ever seen. _Billie-Jean_ was asleep close by, but she raised her eyes towards Beca like pouting. After a few seconds, she got out of the bed, making sure Chloe was still wrapped tightly with the duvet, and gave her a peek on the lips before going to the crib, where Noah was sleeping peacefully stirred with his little teddy reindeer, gift from grandpa Alan, next to his feet. Beca stroke his face softly and went out of the bedroom and towards the girls' bedroom. It was only seven in the morning, so she wasn't surprised to see the kids asleep. Beth and Kamara were snuggled in their beds, and their two cousins Edith and Emma were sleeping in the spare beds. She kissed her girls' foreheads, pet _Avery_ , that was on Beth's bed, and then she went to the boys bedroom, where Micah, his cousin Parker, uncle George and grandpa Alan were sleeping. She grinned seeing how weird it was to see her own father and her grown up brother in law sleeping next to two young boys in a children room full of dinosaurs decoration. Sophie and Seth were sleeping upstairs in a inflatable mattress in the basement, and Jesse and Aubrey were sleeping downstairs in the attic like usual, while Cathy slept with them in the bed, that was king size so it wasn't too much of a problem, and the twins took the sofa-bed. Angela and Amelia had their own house a couple streets far away already.

Beca loved having her house full of people, she had grown used to it in Barden, and she loved when her own house felt like that. Before having kids, and even when they only had Beth, and most of the Bellas didn't have any, the Bellas used to go to the house of the one that had it the biggest, which was usually the Mitchells house, and would do a big sleepover partying, even if they had a few kids, only for reminiscence of the good old days.

She walked downstairs and was especially careful with the noise so she wouldn't wake the twins up. She, however, did spend a few seconds in the darkness contemplating her godchildren sleep. She used to be the godmother of her nephew Jack, and now she was the godmother of Lucy Gresham, Angela's daughter, and Chloe and Beca were together the godmothers of the Swanson kids, their nephew Owen, and Edith. Chloe was also the godmother of her niece Katherine, but not Beca because she was eighteen when Kate was born, and she wasn't even with Chloe or knew the family. Beca then went to make herself a cup of coffee and sat in the music room with her laptop and earphones, listening to her own mixes while finishing her cup of coffee and doing some paperwork for the company. She later went to visit her employees in the hospital and to the cemetery, and went back home around eleven in the morning, when the children had barely just woken up and were still in their pajamas. When she was parking her car, she realized there were two familiar faces walking towards their gateway door. Beca grinned when she recognized them and ran to them, hugging them both at the same time.

"Beca!" they yelled.

"What are you doing here girls? Don't you have children to take care of?"

"Our partners can survive without us for a couple days" Cynthia-Rose said smiling.

"Yeah, we've been watching the news and we decided you needed all the support you could get" Stacie added.

"We're really sorry about your friends" Cynthia added with a more serious expression.

"Thank you guys" Beca nodded with a tiny smile "We actually have a lot of visits this weekend. My father and Chloe's parents came, also the Swansons, Chloe's brother George, and Chloe's sister Sophie with her husband and kids. But it's so nice to see you, where are you staying?"

"Nice!" Stacie smiled "At a hotel close by, don't worry. So, should we come in?" she pointed to the house.

"Sure, wait until Chloe sees you, she's going to flip, and Noah has gotten so big you're gonna flip" Beca said excitedly going through her keys until she found the right ones.

After a round of effusive greetings, Beca sat to join her family for breakfast, feeling hungry too, and Cynthia and Stacie sat too.

"Have you breastfeed Noah?" Chloe asked Beca.

"Yes, but I'll do it again when I've eaten some more" Beca smiled at her with the mouth full of food.

"How is everyone in the hospital?" Chloe asked.

"Much better, it's the first day it seems like everybody is out of the woods, so that's very good. They're still screwed, but on the way towards recovery" Beca replied with relief.

"Finally" Chloe smiled relieved.

"Yeah, they're even in good spirits, which for own experience I know it's quite hard to be when being that screwed, so it's awesome. Some of them are even joking already" Beca shrugged "How's my favorite dinosaurs specialist?" she added when Micah came yawning, wrapping him in a tight hug as he climbed to her knees.

"Great" Micah replied taking a toast "Hungry!"

"Then get that stomach full buddy" Alan smiled at him "How did you sleep, daughter?"

"Could've been better, but also worse. I feel like today I will definitely sleep like it's meant to be, if the day keeps being this good. I feel like today is gonna be the day when things start looking better, and I drove past _Bulletproof Productions_ on my way here, and it already looks quite better, and nobody else has died since yesterday morning, and things look fine. The President even called to apologize for being a jerk and said I was right all along."

"Great day then" Jesse smiled.

"Let's keep it that way" Beca kissed Micah's shoulder as he had his breakfast sitting on her lap.

"Moms, can I have a new painting set for my birthday? It's soon" Beth said looking at her mothers with marmalade on her mouth that Sophie quickly cleaned.

"Sure, why don't you make a list with things you want or need and we can get you some of them for your birthday?" Chloe suggested "That way, it'll still be a bit of a surprise."

They spent the rest of the day quietly and happily at home, mostly in the garden to use the good day that it seemed to be happening outside. Beca went to Chloe after breastfeeding their newborn and snuggled against her sitting on the grass with the others. The doorbell rang, so Alan went to take it and came a bit later with a man.

"Graham!" Beca smiled going to hug him "It's so good to see you."

"Thanks" He replied "I'm not doing so well Bec… it's just so hard" he said tearfully.

"I know… listen, let's go inside and we'll talk in privacy."

"No, I was about to go… no, I just, I heard that it was you who choose not to scan the packages that arrived the company, and that that's why my wife died."

"Graham, I…" before she could finish her answer, Graham punched her in the abdomen so hard, she bended and fell on her knees, an arm wrapped around her belly, and a forearm against the grass supporting her. Then, Chloe moved faster than the other people that had moved to hit the guy or something, and she kicked him in the balls so strongly he bended with a yelp, but Chloe took a fist of his hair keeping his head close to her mouth and leaned a bit.

"Never hit my wife, understood?" she yelled against his ear "I will kill you if your filthy hands ever come close to her again, Graham." She snapped, before pushing him towards the garden gate "Go!" He did so, quite fast, and she knelt next to Bec, who was groaning without moving. Aubrey, Alan and George were next to her.

"Momma!" Beth yelled running towards her.

"Don't come here honey!" Chloe yelled at her "Momma is fine, she just needs a minute. Beca, talk to me" she asked leaning close to Beca's ear and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine" Beca said through grilled teeth, and she leaned back sitting on her heels "I'm okay, it was psychological pain." Beca added, pulling her t-shirt up and seeing her abdomen wasn't even reddish "I'm okay." She repeated more firmly.

"Alright" Chloe nodded and kissed her "What the hell is wrong with Graham?"

"He's a widow Chloe. He can't hit the actual criminals, so he makes himself believe it's my fault to hit me without feeling guilty" Beca explained.

"Don't excuse him Beca" Chloe helped her stand on her feet.

"I don't" Beca replied.

Beca woke up in the dark, her heart beating fast and strong, and sweat drops sliding down her temple. She sat straight beside Chloe, who continued sleeping deeply, and tried to recover her breath after her big nightmare. It had been quite vivid, which made it scarier. She was in her office when everything started trembling, so she ran to the corridors, and it exploded. In her nightmare, she kind of fainted and when she woke up, she was right next to a crumbling corridor, half of it having exploded, and a person was hanging from the verge of what was left of the corridor, where she was. She tried to take her hand, it was Tatiana, her receptionist, and she begged her to not let her go, but her hand slipped from Beca's, and she fell. Then, Beca had woken up. Feeling too overwhelmed to keep it together, she hugged her knees and cried as softly as she could so as not to wake the whole house up.

"Becs?" she heard Chloe's hoarse and sleepy whisper "Becs…" Chloe sat beside her with her legs surrounding Beca, and pulled Beca to her chest, hugging her tightly while Beca cried and Chloe kissed her forehead and stroke her softly "It's okay Bec, I'm here, it's okay." After a while, Beca stopped crying, but didn't move, and Chloe didn't move either "What happened love?"

"They are all dead Chloe" Beca muttered "Flown through the air."

"There are still thirty eight alive Beca."

"But thirty dead. Thirty, all of the sudden, and they were all my friends, my employees, my coworkers, people I spent countless hours with over the last nine years. We had just turn nine years together. And now they are dead, and half of them are just pieces."

"It's not your fault." Chloe stated "There is nothing you could've done to save them. And now you've been doing everything you could and more to make sure they were honored, buried how they deserve, and their killer or killers found."

"Then why do I feel so guilty Chloe?" Beca asked tearfully.

"Because…" Chloe pressed her lips against her forehead "Because you are the captain of the ship they were in, and as long as they were on your ship, they looked up to you in a way I wish most bosses were fortunate enough to be looked at like. They trusted you, they respected you, and admired you, and they went to you for help, but when they were the most desperate, in the time of death, you weren't there with most of them. Which isn't your fault, and it's not something you should feel guilty for, but you do because it's just who you are. You would've loved to be there holding their hands and calming them down as they gave their last breaths and suffered the pain, and you just couldn't" Chloe kept hugging her tightly and Beca just keep her mouth shut and sniffled "You weren't mad for that punch, because deep inside it infuriates you so much that you weren't there and you think you deserve to be punched for that but instead you get love, comprehension, and people flying to be here for you, and that frustrates you because you don't think you deserve it. Am I getting any closer?"

"Nailed it" Beca replied hoarsely. Chloe was always quite good at deciphering her feelings before she did.

"Beca" Chloe pulled Beca's chin up to look at her in the eyes "Not even superman could be everywhere at the same time. You are a human, and humans don't have sensors to tell them someone needs them, you couldn't have known. Eight Christmases and nothing has ever happened, how could you have known? And even if you had been there, you would still have felt so frustrated because the only thing you could've done is be there, and they all probably just fainted with the explosion and went without even knowing and getting stressed about it" She stroke her cheek cleaning the tears away "It sucks, but they were adults, you can't feel so responsible for them honey, you didn't put the bomb there, and I bet they didn't think _fuck, where the hell is Beca?_ when it happened, you couldn't have helped there, I know it's frustrating and that you hate to feel powerless or like you failed them, but you didn't. You don't deserve to be punished for something that was out of your control, you are the best person there is, anything you did provoked their death, and anything you could've done would have saved them."

"I would've been happy with just being there. Not all of them lost their conscience when that happened, I just, my subconscious can imagine them dragging their bleeding selves or their friends, dead or alive, through all those corridors I know so well, and I wasn't there. A captain never leaves the ship as long as there is one single person there, why did I? when did I think it was an excellent idea to sent people back to work while I was partying with my family like most of people at that time of the year?"

"Beca, you usually end up going back when the first employee does because you love that place too much" Chloe reminded her "And this time, you were on maternal leave. That's why you were resting, because that's what you were supposed to be doing."

"I was on maternal leave."

"You were on maternal leave."

"And that's why I wasn't there."

"And that's why you weren't there."

Beca stared at Chloe intently, the sudden realization giving her such a feeling of relief she almost felt like fainting for a second.

"Had I known that was all you needed to hear, and I would've said it sooner" Chloe joked with a tiny smile stroking her cheeks.

"Am I a good person Chloe? If you weren't my wife, would you say I am a good person?"

"You are one in a million Beca. You're one of the best" Chloe gave her a peek on the lips, and Beca started making out with her.

Beca was pushing Chloe softly against the mattress and soon, she was on fours without having stopped making out with Chloe, her hands flying to Chloe's t-shirt pulling it up enough to get her head under it, and, her hands following her lips, she started kissing Chloe's abdomen, and up to her breast, was Chloe moaned softly, over her t-shirt pushing Beca's head against herself, until Beca removed her t-shirt to have free access to those freckly breasts she loved.

"Lock the door, I don't want my niece, my father, or anybody else to catch us" Chloe managed to whisper. Beca gave a last suck to her nipple before jumping off the bed to lock the door of their bedroom. Then, she threw her own t-shirt across the room and jumped hungrily back to the bed, getting on all fours over Chloe again, a hand stroking Chloe's side of the face, her mouth attacking Chloe's, and her other hand gripping one of her breasts. Chloe rolled them to be on top, and Beca smirked feeling Chloe attack her neck and shoulders with her hands over her breasts. Beca clenched her teeth to avoid making a noise, and pounded her nails on Chloe's scalps when the ginger attacked her breast with her mouth and moved her hands towards her hips, getting Beca's pants down and rubbing her between her legs. She knelt between Beca's legs and forcefully threw Beca's pants away, brusquely taking Beca by her ass cheeks and attacking her clit with her mouth, quickly making pressure with her tongue, and Beca had to press a pillow against her mouth to keep herself quiet, yelling into the pillow and pressing Chloe's face against her with her free hand and wrapping her legs around Chloe.

Chloe pulled some fingers into Beca, pounding into her, and straightened taking Beca's hand from the back of her head and pulling her fingers into herself, moaning with it. Beca moved her fingers fast and stroked her clit with her thumb, and Chloe used her free hand to throw the pillow away from Beca's face to attack her mouth, gripping her breasts with her hand. They rolled and Beca on top, started sinking herself into Chloe's fingers fast as she drove her own into her wife and made out with her, stifling both their screams when they came.

"I love your freckles" Beca whispered a bit later, as they hugged each other in bed, and Beca used the light from the lamp they had turned on to count Chloe's freckles.

"You are obsessed with them" Chloe giggled.

"I'm obsessed with everything related to you" Beca smiled "Forty three" Beca counted finally pressing her finger against one freckle between Chloe's breasts "Two more than when we started dating."

"You're too unbelievable and amazing" Chloe kissed her on the lips "I can't imagine what I would do without you. Everybody else seems too mediocre next to you to be with them romantically."

"You make my life worth living. You made me cheesy" Beca smiled against her lips "The only thing I don't like about lesbianism, is that I would absolutely love to have a baby that was half yours and half mine, just because it would be so amazing to see the genetic mix, but in exchange we've got four amazing cubs, so I won't complain much." Chloe giggled.

"You're right. I love you Rebeca Mitchell."

"I love you Chloe Anna Mitchell."

 **Please leave reviews!**


	23. Chapter 23

A couple days went by, and one day Beca had a long and very important meeting that kept her awake all night and working hard on that without barely sleeping for more than a day prior. She was very tired, but it was a really important meeting with video conferences with important clients, and before the meeting she even had to get her ass up to the FBI office in Richmond, a few kilometers away from Norfolk, because they wanted to talk with her about their suspects and see if they were in any way connected with her. Chloe had tried for her to sleep, but after realizing Beca was too stressed and anxious to actually rest, and that lying without doing anything only made her more anxious, she gave up and let Beca do her thing, so Beca spend the night working and at five, she was already finishing breakfast and going, she still had to get to Richmond.

After meeting with the FBI, she was running late to her meeting, and she drove as fast as she could to get there, between yawns. She checked her make-up and ran towards the rented place where they were having their meetings while _Bulletproof Productions_ was fixed. After the meeting, she got a text from Chloe asking to buy some stuff before going home, and she did so and then ran home, knowing she was late.

"How did the meeting go?" Anna asked while she and Beca got the things from the children's lunch back to the kitchen after they had had lunch before the adults so the space in the table was bigger.

"Good" Beca yawned "Good."

"Beca, Noah's hungry!" Chloe yelled from upstairs, where a crying baby could be heard, and Beca ran upstairs to feed him. When she was done, she went back to the living for lunch, everybody else was already sat down around the table.

When she was walking through the room towards the table, she suddenly felt very dizzy, so she stopped and put a hand against the wall for support waiting for the room to stop spinning with her eyes closed.

"Chloe, I think I'm gonna faint" she whispered, unsure of having been actually heard. But whether they heard her or not, she heard quick steps and then, everything went back.

When she opened her eyes, she felt something soft against her cheek and realized the side of her face was against Chloe's chest, and that the ginger was knelt on the floor, staring worriedly at her with a hand against the side of her face, stroking her hair with her thumb, and her other hand was against her shoulder, keeping her against herself. Beca's arms fell flat, her hands on her lap and her legs stirred wildly.

"She's waking up" Chloe said "How are you feeling baby?" Beca rubbed her face with a hand.

"Exhausted" she whispered hoarsely. Her whole body weighted just too much, and she closed her eyes giving in to the weight of her eyelashes "Did my head hit the floor?"

"No, I caught you right in time" Chloe kissed her forehead "Come on, I'll help you get to bed, you need to sleep."

"Bed is too far away. And stairs" Beca argued.

"I'll take you there bride style" Jesse said with a kind smile, knelt next to them. Beca yawned so hard her face hurt, and she rubbed her nose against Chloe's sweater, that smelled so well and so much like Chloe. She could sleep there, she was pretty comfy, but before she could argue anymore, Jesse had already pulled one of her arms around his neck, an arm around her back, and Chloe was helping her take her up in his arms, which he did, and Beca groaned yawning again against his chest, too sleepy to be aware of the trip upstairs.

Next thing she knew, she was waking up and it was around dinner time judging by the darkness visible through the window. She moaned rubbing her face with her palms and sat up, yawning at the same time her stomach roared, so she decided she could go back to sleep later and now go and eat. She found everybody in the middle of dinner.

"Hello sleepyhead" Chloe smiled at her tapping the empty seat next to her "Hungry?"

"Very" Beca sat, kissed Chloe, and filled her plate with all she could.

"Feeling more rested?" Stacie asked.

"Somehow more, yeah."

"The FBI called you while you were asleep" Chloe said giving her her cell "It seemed very important, they said you needed to call them when you woke up."

"For them, everything seems more important than it actually is" Beca took her cell and kissed Chloe's cheek "I'll call them after eating some. Where are my kiddos?"

"As soon as they ate, they ran to play" Alan replied. He stopped to cough, he was going through some catarrh apparently, and then he continued "Now that they're together, they can't stop having fun!"

"Yeah, that happens all the time" Sophie smiled "New Year's Eve was fun though. The cousins hadn't seen each other in a long time."

When they brought the desserts, Beca stopped to call the FBI back to the number they had given her.

"Goodnight, it's Beca Mitchell, you called earlier. I'm all ears sir… what?! Seriously?! That's fantastic! Have you called their families yet? Perfect. No, I have no idea who they are… but it's great, it's sure it was them, I mean, there are proves enough? Awesome sir. Thank you very much, I'll see you tomorrow. Perfect, thanks, have a goodnight." Beca ended the call and grinned looking at the others before yelling excitedly: "They caught the bastards that put the bomb! They did it!"

"What?" Chloe smiled "That's amazing!"

"Yeah, awesome!" George grinned.

"And who were them?" Alan asked.

"I have to go tomorrow to see the photos and see if they seem familiar, but it is a small group of some guys that have a big criminal record and many of their crimes are explosive-related, but they have never been caught. The FBI got to track down the travel of the package from my company backwards, and reached an abandoned building that was full of their prints and some rest of explosives that are like the ones that were used with _Bulletproof Productions_. FBI said it seemed like they ran away very fast, but they kept an eye on the public cameras in Norfolk, and found them in the port and went to arrest them, but they ran away and well, what usually happens, FBI shot them to death." Beca explained "But they registered them afterwards and they had dynamite dust on their hands, the mail address of _Bulletproof Productions_ written on a paper, and even a paper from the mail company that they give you to track your package in case it gets lost, and it's written it was sent to us. It all fits."

"Are you happy?" Chloe asked that night, kissing Beca's neck as she hugged her from behind. Beca rolled to hug her from the front, and sighed.

"In general, yes. There are many downs unfortunately, but if I see the bigger picture, I'm lucky" Beca replied "And I'm damn happy those bastards were caught, although I'd like it better if they could root in prison forever."

"You know what could we do?" Chloe said and Beca rose her eyebrows "When the summer holidays start, you publish your new album. And when you have to go around in trips for interviews and concerts, we'll go with you. The kids love travelling and going to your concerts, and it'll be fun, and relaxing."

"Wouldn't it be too much to go with four young kids?"

"Noah will be one by then, it'll be okay."

Next day, everybody left back to their homes.

"Take care of that cold, okay dad?" Beca grinned hugging her dad tightly.

"I will" He smiled gently at her "Take care Bec, see you soon!"

Beca smiled and waved to the cars that left, along with her children and Chloe, from their main door.

"Say bye to everyone!" Chloe smiled waving Noah's hand as the kid was being carried by Beca.

They got back into the house and Chloe sat to help Beth do her homework in the living room. The kid had learned to write and read just some months ago, and they spent some time daily training her abilities. Noah had abilities to practice, too, because he was starting to drag himself around the floor, crawl, and sometimes with the help of someone, he dared to stand on his feet supporting on anything. He was also a very smiley boy, which was funny to see. Beca sat with Noah on the puzzle carpet to help him move a bit, and Micah and Kamara sat next to them to help too. _Avery_ was sleeping on the sofa and _Billie-Jean_ lied on the floor looking cautiously at the kids.

"Come on Noah, come, come with me!" Micah cheered his brother. They had formed a little circle and Noah was crawling towards each of them "Well done bro!" Micah hugged his smiley brother when he reached him, and then Noah sat looking at Kamara, who extended her tiny arms towards her, and Noah grinned and started crawling towards his sister, whom he reached soon.

"Very good Noah!" Kamara congratulated her brother with a smile, kissing his cheek. Noah went on all fours again, and reached a hand towards Beca, who smiled at him.

"Mmmm! Mmmm!" Noah yelled, and Kamara and Noah laughed.

"Momma!" Micah exclaimed trying to teach him "Momma!"

"Mmm!" Noah yelled again, and crawled towards Beca quickly.

"Very good son!" Beca grinned taking Noah up in the air like a plane and farting on his mouth, making him giggle. Chloe looked up for a second smiling at them, and then went back to help Beth do her homework. Beca sat Noah on the floor between her legs, and Kamara gave Noah one of his toys, that he waved in the air.

"Noah, I'm gonna teach you a cool word" Micah told his brother "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

"Very good Micah!" Beca smiled "Your grandpa Alan taught you that didn't he?" Micah grinned nodding "I figured."

"Ssss!" Noah yelled, and they giggled.

"Baby steps Noah!" Kai waved Noah's hair.

Beca loved those kinds of days, when she could sit with her family and just do anything at all, but the next day the mourning period decreed would end, and it was time to go back to school and to the rest of their duties.

"Mmm…" Beca rolled half asleep in her bed that night, snuggling closer to Chloe "Cozy…" she said dragging the last syllable as her arms wrapped around Chloe and her face found a warm spot against her chest.

Chloe breathed deeply in her sleep, and one of her arms fell over Beca protectively. That was all Beca needed to fall asleep deeply again.

A month later, Beca welcomed back all her coworkers –included the ones that had been injured, that were all already out of the hospital, although still bandaged and most of them would be back at home in less than a couple hours because they weren't supposed to be working yet- at their fixed building of _Bulletproof Productions_ and all of them, thirty of them very obviously missing. Beca had summoned them all, even the wounded, for a little reunion she wanted to have with them, after which the convalescent employees could and should go back home. They all got together in the stage of their empty auditorium after a long session of warm greetings, sitting on chairs that had been previously put there.

"Welcome back friends" Beca smiled looking at all of them "I'm very happy to see all of you back, and out of the hospital, I know many of you still need to be resting and not here, but I wanted to have some words with you away from the media and the politicians, just our little family. We've went through our hardest time ever, and I know we are all hurt and sad beyond repair for all that has happened, and I wanted to say that I'm very sorry for all of it. It wasn't my fault, but I hate that I wasn't here to be with you when you were here suffering" she looked at the wounded "I'm the captain of this ship, and the captain never leaves the ship as long as there's one person there, so I've decided that from now on, nobody will be here more hours than me. Nobody will have to come back to work before others after the holidays anymore either. And now, not as the boss, but as your friend, I just wanted to say that I love you all a lot, and that whenever you need me, I'll be there. I'm here for you, at any time of the day, at any day, whenever you need whatever you need. Recently, it was the ninth birthday of the company, and I remember I decided to name it _Bulletproof Productions_ with Chloe nine years ago for many reasons, but one of them was that, and was Chloe who actually came out with that reason, a bulletproof vest is not supposed to avoid the hit, or to go through the hit without a single scratch. A bulletproof vest gets the shot, and it leaves it scratched, but it's still there, and it's still standing. And so do we. All of us. We are allowed to receive the hit, and the scratches that come with hit, but we'll keep standing, we'll keep marching on. You're stronger than you think, but still, I don't want anybody to play the hero, if one day you just don't feel like coming, don't. If one day you come but don't feel like working, don't. If one day you want to go, don't wait until your hours are over, just go. Do whatever you feel like doing, during all the time you want, all the times you want to do it, and don't bother giving me, or anyone, explanations. You have my permission, and I promise you you will all still have your salary coming untouched at the end of the month, even if the month ends and you've only came a couple times. That said, let's go people! We all have stuff to do don't we?" Beca smiled at them, and she got their smiles in return.

"How did it go?" Chloe asked that night, when Beca rolled into the bed to join her after having had dinner outside with her coworkers.

"Very good, we had a pretty nice time" Beca replied hugging Chloe and kissing her lips "Isn't your birthday right around the corner?"

"Yes" Chloe replied sleepy nudging her nose into Beca's crook of the neck.

"Are we celebrating it, or will you be turning thirty seven again?"

"We are celebrating. I'll be thirty eight, and you still love me" Chloe replied.

"You'll be thirty eight, and I still love you" Beca smiled against her neck "I'll turn thirty five in August anyway."

"Aww… so young…" Chloe giggled against her neck.

"You're a cradle-robber" Beca laughed hugging her tightly, and Chloe started laughing too. Then they fell into the silence of the night, snuggled together contently, and Chloe kissed her neck.

"I love you. Ten years together, and you still make me laugh like when we first met seventeen years ago."

"Ten years together, and you still make me feel like the luckiest person in the entire universe exactly like when we first met seventeen years ago."

In the morning, it was snowing.

"Moms! Up, it's snowing! Wake up! It's snowing, it's snowing!"

"Snow?!" Chloe jumped from the bed and joined her children running downstairs with them and towards the garden. Beca sleepy followed and rubbed her eyes smiling at the sight of her three elders with Chloe, all glued to the garden's glass door in their living room, so close to it their breaths were leaving vapor on the glass.

"Mommy, can we go out?" Kamara asked.

"Yes" Chloe replied "Run guys, dress with your Portland clothes and out!" Beca giggled when the children and Chloe stormed out of the room, and she joined _Avery_ and _Billie-Jean_ observing the garden next to the glass door of it.

"These sunny people, you let them be born under the rays of sunshine, and they will always flip with snow" Beca murmured to herself with a little smile.

Not ten minutes later, the six of them were chilling in the garden with the snow clothes they had for when they went to Portland in winter.

"Look mom!" Beth was doing an angel with Kai on the grass. Chloe and Noah were building a snowman. Beca bounced Noah, who made something like a giggle.

"Well done girls!" Beca smiled at them and then at Noah when the boy caught a snowflake in the air and smiled proud of himself "Good reflects honey." Beca kissed his forehead over the big bonnet he was wearing.

"Beca, come help if you're not doing a thing!" Chloe yelled from their half snowman. Beca went to them, let Noah on the ground, and while he made small balls and smashed them against the feet of the snowman, Beca helped Micah make a head. The other girls soon joined them, Kai teaching Noah how to help with the snowman.

When they had done a perfect snowman, Chloe put their professional camera on its tripod in the living room but right by the open garden door and pointing to the snowman, focused the camera and pressed the button to take the photo in fifteen seconds, and then ran to her family as they posed to a family picture with Mr. Snowman Mitchell, as the kids had named it.

A few weeks later, Chloe turned thirty eight in a Friday, the 9th of March, and that afternoon they had invited their friends to celebrate it with them all weekend. Chloe would also get to speak with her family through skype. Beca slid out of the bed very stealthily and went to pick Noah up and wake up their other three children, early that day.

"Okay Noah" Beca sat almost nine months old baby Noah on hers and Chloe's bed "Just like we planned, wake up your mother like only you know. With kissy kissy uh?" Beca smiled at the boy as she whispered to him. Noah crawled over Chloe, who moaned a bit with the weight of the kid, and he started kissing her face.

"Mmm!" Noah yelled with a smile, and Chloe opened her eyes.

"Noah? What are you…?"

"Happy birthday mamma!" the three other kids jumped on the bed kissing Chloe, who grinned sitting on the bed wrapping them all in a tight hug.

"Thank you babies!" Chloe thanked excitedly, and Beca crawled over the bed to join them, hugging her whole family the best she could with her tiny arms and stirring to kiss Chloe on the mouth.

"Happy birthday my angel" Beca said after the kiss.

"Thank you Bec."

The children went to get the presents and came back with a ton of things like drawings and other stuff for Chloe, who was grinning all the time as she opened all the presents.

"Welcome!" Beth grinned opening the house door that afternoon for the Swansons, and hugged her 'cousins, aunt and uncle'.

"Thank you!" Chloe thanked the present Anna Swanson handed her a minute later. They had established in the garden, so they would be more comfortable, and had prepared cake and a little supper. Later that night the adults were going to celebrate around while the kids stayed with a nanny they had already employed many times in the past and the children loved and they kind of liked too.

"Can I help with anything?" Aubrey asked Beca while the children played around the garden to warm up, because it was a bit chilly even if there wasn't snow anymore and the sun was shining over them.

"Uhm… yeah, help me get the cake ready? Thirty eight candles are many candles" Beca smiled at her, and they entered the house and the kitchen "So how is everything going?" Beca asked while they put the candles strategically around the cake.

"Very well, everything good" Aubrey replied "Catherine Rebeca loves the game you guys gave her for Christmas, by the way."

"You just love reminding me you named my goddaughter after me and I named none of my boys after Jesse" Beca joked with her tongue between her teeth "I'm glad she liked it." Aubrey curved her lips into a tiny smile.

"And how are you doing?"

"We're good, we're partying!"

"I wasn't talking about you as your family and you, but yourself alone" Aubrey explained.

"Oh" Beca nodded "I'm better, much better. Work is recovering pretty good, everybody is, and it helps having an awesome family to come back home to. Also, we put a giant plaque with everybody's names and picture at the lobby of the company."

"That's great!" Aubrey nodded "I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, thank you. Our lives seem to be full of rollercoasters always… and by the way, Chloe told me the other day you told her Danny has an allergy to peanuts, how is he?"

"He's doing better, it was scary at first when he was having the reactions and always in and out of the hospital and going through tests and nobody knew what the hell was wrong with him… but fortunately a couple days after the first time, they realized what it was, and ever since, he's much better. He says he didn't even like peanuts that much anyway." She added with a side smile, and Beca smiled.

"Good for him. We made sure nothing had peanuts twice, so he can eat calmly."

"Thanks" Aubrey nodded.

They spent a nice evening altogether, and the Lightwoods and Greshams came too, along with some of Chloe's coworkers and friends. They had also prepared a piñata for Chloe.

"Left, left!" Beca guided the blind ginger. The funny thing about it was that everyone was shouting whatever they wanted, either correct directions than incorrect, or just encouraging her. Chloe giggled blindfolded and holding firmly between her arms one of her brother's old basketball bats that he gave her long ago.

"Am I getting any closer?" Chloe yelled waving the bat in the air.

"Keep going mamma!" Kai encouraged with honesty. Beca had been alternating between honesty and lies.

"Keep your distance with me people, I'm armed!" Chloe joked, and then hit with all her forces the piñata, finally. The kids cheered and ran to get the sweets.

"Did you love your birthday honey?" Beca asked that night after having made love to her wife slowly and lovingly.

"I absolutely loved it" Chloe grinned against Beca's cheek, hugging her under their covers.


	24. Chapter 24

DJ Beca Mitchell got down the stage drinking from a plastic bottle of water with drops of sweat sliding down her temples, her hair glued to the sides of her face, but she still felt quite satisfied and had a happy grin plastered on her face. She felt alive as she heard the screams, yells, and all the excitement of her fans even ten minutes after having finalized her concert. As her new album saw the light of the sun, she had decided to do a small tour, and her family had gone with her, making it all more fun. It was July, Noah had turned a year old while they were touring in Germany, and now, after having visited several countries out of America and several cities in it, Beca had just finalized her tour in her native city, Portland, Maine.

"Look who's there!" Chloe ran to her and hugged her tightly before taking her face between her hands and giving her a kiss on the lips "Amazing concert, as always love."

"Thank you" Beca grinned hugging her children, who ran to her. Noah was starting to walk a little bit, but not alone yet, and he wasn't speaking yet either. He was just taking his own time to do things.

Beca now remixed her own songs, songs she wrote and produced, some were with other artists and some weren't even remixes but pure songs. She had never seen herself as a song writer, but she had discovered in the last couple years she was quite good at it, maybe it had to do with having lived much more. She wrote about her, her life, her family, romance, or random stuff that came to her mind, and sometimes the songs were sad and she could tear up onstage, and sometimes they were fun and to dance and laugh, and she couldn't stop grinning while performing them. Before having children, in her first concerts, Chloe, the Bellas, and other friends of similar ages, had accompanied her through concerts and tours, and they always had huge parties like if they were teens or worse. Now, with four toddlers with very sensitive little ears, and one of them a baby, they waited for their mother to finish or out of the concert, or in one room that was behind the stage that was prepared so the noise from outside wouldn't come in, and there were some screens so they could see the concert and hear it at their own volume of liking.

"It was awesome momma!" Beth congratulated her "But you're disgusting now!" Beca laughed.

"You're right honey, what do you think if I clean myself up a bit and then we all go have dinner somewhere nice?"

"Great!" Beth smiled.

"I made reservations" Alan added "That place near the port."

"Awesome" Beca grinned "I'll be out in a minute, I'm just gonna wash my face and change clothes."

A bit later, they were having dinner together at a restaurant, chilling out and celebrating the long tour was over. Beca was incredibly happy as she had been for a few months, and now, she loved having her family and best friends around to celebrate. Wyatt was the only one missing, because a week earlier, while they were in Norway, he, that was in Norfolk with his family, had called her to tell them Eva had had their girl.

"And the fireworks at the end! How do you put fireworks onstage?" Micah was fascinated about all the magic of a concert.

"Magic, right?" Beca waved his hair while drinking her orange juice, that was healthier for her throat "You'll learn that one day, if I knew how it's done, I would tell everybody!"

"I loved the rain of sparkle stuff at the end" Cathy commented. Aubrey giggled reaching a hand to take one of those sparkly papers out of Beca's hair.

"And you still have it!" Aubrey commented and Beca giggled.

"Can we stay here in Portland for a couple days more mommy? I love it here" Beth asked.

"Sure thing hon" Beca nodded, and Chloe nodded too.

"You remembered that song I like so much!" Addie added enthusiastically.

"Sure, how could I forget?" Beca smiled "I love that one too."

"And the dancer was so handsome" Addie added with a smirk.

"These teens" Alan smiled putting an arm around his youngest daughters' arms, and Addie and Beca laughed.

"Oh, he's Alexandro" Beca giggled "He tried to date me like four years ago, he's from Italy and he didn't know I was married, lesbian and mother, he flipped so much when I told him!" she added laughing, and the others laughed too.

"I gotta say, I didn't expect you to be such a good dancer either" Sheila commented with a side smile.

"Right?" Chloe exclaimed and looked at Beca "I told you! Freaking hot insecure dancer this wifey of mine."

"Chloe, you are the dancer of the two of us, and I'm dumb for that. I was so afraid all the time to mess it up!" Beca laughed.

"Shorty, I saw the panic in your eyes through half of the last one when you thought you were gonna fail one move" Amy said smiling.

"I messed it up" Beca clarified "I'm such a good actress God!"

They kept making jokes and stuff until they decided to continue the party outside, even with their children. Sheila and Addison were a bit tired, so Alan offered to take them home. They had just said goodbye to them and kept walking through the street where Sheila, Addie and Alan had gotten into their car, when they heard screams and a loud noise, and they turned around in time to see another car that was going in the opposite direction of Alan's car, slip against the road, skid, and then hit Alan's car forcefully, and since they were next to the port, the car went out the road only to fall onto the sea. The other car avoided the fall by little. The group, that contained Beca's family, the Swansons, some of the Bellas, Angela's and Amelia's family, and some of Chloe's family, plus Beca's manager, had turned around and observed the scene with panic in their eyes. Some yelled. But the second Alan's car went out of the road, Beca had already screamed _Dad!_ At the top of her lungs and had also already started running faster than ever in her life to the spot where the car had fallen, and she jumped into the sea, and Jesse had ran quickly after her and imitated her. Some of them yelled, and they ran to the verge of the road. Next to it was a now broken traffic barrier and then the dark sea in the night, but they couldn't see neither Beca or Jesse. Chloe and Aubrey contemplated the water powerlessly with wide eyes, but they had to stay with their children. Some of the children, the youngest, were crying, while the elders were shocked. Beca's manager was calling 911.

"They'll be okay. Beca knows what she's doing" Chloe said out loud, although she wasn't so sure herself.

Meanwhile, Beca was trying to open the car's driver's door, that wouldn't open, with all her strength, while Jesse tried the other one to get Sheila or Addie out of the car. Sheila seemed unconscious, Addie too, and Alan was trying hard to help his daughter open the damn door, as their car was very quickly filling with water. Beca felt her lungs hurt, and the water was freezing cold and the visibility terrible, but she didn't care, she had to save them, she couldn't lost her dad too, or any of them for that matter. Not him, not after everybody she had lost, the Universe wasn't that cruel. Jesse finally got to open Sheila's door, but her belt wouldn't give in, they were running out of oxygen, more now than the car was opened, and the car was deeper into the water every second that went by. Between Jesse and Beca, they helped first Addison, and then the now unconscious Alan out of the car, and then Beca forced Jesse to bring them back to the surface while she got Sheila out, and when they finally got it to happen, Beca took the woman, and swam to the surface. The cold air of the night in Maine finally hit her face, and her lungs contracted painfully between hard coughs, trying to get some oxygen. She pulled her step mother out of the water, and, with her heart beating fast, she examined her pale face and looked around. Somebody, apparently some of the Bellas, had taken all the children away except for Addie, and the rest of the group was still waiting for them, Jesse having already almost arrived there. Police, a swimming team, and ambulances, had arrived too.

Beca focused on keeping her Sheila's and her own heads out of the water and swam towards the group. The water tasted horribly and the salt made her throat ache and her lungs burn, but she tried not to think about it. She focused her eyes on her dad and sister as people brought them out of the water and doctors started working on them.

"Come on guys" Beca whispered hoarsely "Don't you dare leave me. You can't leave me."

They were helped out of the water, and Beca found herself on all fours coughing painfully while hands covered her in warm blankets and doctors worked on Alan, Addison and Sheila. She looked around, Chloe was right next to her hugging her, the Bellas that hadn't left and Angie were also there, next to them. Aubrey was wrapping Jesse, who was also coughing, between blankets, and hugged him while observing the doctors try to bring Beca's dad, sister, and Sheila back to life, after declaring they weren't breathing. After the longest fifteen minutes of Beca's life, the doctors gave up and Beca launched herself on top of her dad.

"You can't give up!" she didn't know if she was talking to her dad, or to the doctors, but she kept trying to revive him by herself, forcing oxygen into his lungs, but nothing seemed to work. Another five minutes passed, and she was crying, and finally forced herself to stop, but only to keep trying to bring Addie back to life, for another three, maybe four, long minutes, until strong arms pulled her away.

"It's over Beca. They're gone. You tried, but there's nothing else you can do. They are dead." Chloe said forcing her own sobs back, hugging Beca tightly from behind as the brunette cried, screamed, gave them a tantrum, and tried to free herself to keep helping her father, but it was all for nothing.

The moon shined over them as Beca knelt on the ground next to her dead relatives, crying and screaming, and Chloe just hugged her tight from behind while the dead bodies were put into dark plastic bags. The other car was also being examined by police and doctors, but they couldn't have cared any less. Angela knelt on the other side of Beca, and rubbed her back whispering comforting words that Beca didn't seem to hear. She had finally reduced to a sobbing mess kneeling powerlessly with her chin against her sternum, her arms falling motionlessly.

Chloe was told by a cop that somebody had to go and do the paperwork, and she looked up to Aubrey and Jesse, that had approached once Jesse was better.

"I need to do the paperwork" she told them "Take care of her for me, please." Aubrey and Jesse both nodded and between them and Angela, they pulled Beca up, Jesse quickly surrounding her with one arm from one side, and Aubrey from the other. Chloe approached cleaning Beca's cheeks with her thumbs and pressing her forehead against hers. Beca wasn't crying anymore, just sniffling and breathing deeply "Beca, I have to go to do the paperwork, but you're gonna go home okay? I'll take care of everything and I'll be back with you as soon as I can, and tomorrow, you can see them, but tonight you need to sleep. I love you." She kissed her wet forehead and Beca nodded slowly.

When Chloe came back to Beca's mother's home, where they were staying, regardless of the bad memories there, because it was also Beca's childhood home and it was also full of good memories, it was past four in the morning and she was drained. She had been crying too, but she only wanted to be there for Beca. She found Aubrey awake in the living room with a cup of coffee between her hands and red eyes.

"Beca's sleeping, Jesse is with her" Aubrey told her "The others are back at their hotels with our kids and sleeping too. We all talked with our children and calmed them down, but we only told them that Beca's family had been hurt, not dead. Your children have the same version too, I didn't think it was my place to tell them, or that the other kids should know before they did."

"Thank you Aubrey" Aubrey nodded "I've arranged the funeral and all the paperwork. I'm gonna substitute Jesse, go back to sleep alright?" Aubrey got up to follow her upstairs and get Jesse, but first, they stopped by the children's bedroom, where the three Mitchell children shared a big bed. Chloe tucked them again, and kissed them, and when she was about to go, Beth woke up.

"Mom? Is everything alright?" Chloe walked backwards and sat next to her "Aunt Aubrey said grandpa, Sheila and aunty Addie were sick. Are they any better?"

"Honey… your aunt didn't want to tell you because she thought it was better if I did, but they died baby" Chloe stroke the kid's cheek, and the girl sat up frowning "Sh… don't tell any of the other kids, alright? I will talk to your siblings tomorrow, and your aunts and uncles will tell the truth to their own children afterwards. Tonight, we should all go to bed." Beth nodded in understanding.

"But what happened mamma? It was because of the car crash? Is momma alright?" Chloe bit her lip and checked for a moment that Kai and Micah were still asleep next to their older sister. Aubrey was standing by the doorframe.

"A car lost control while driving and crashed against your grandpa's car, police is still investigating why. Your grandpa's car was pushed out of the road and fell onto the sea, and your momma and uncle Jesse jumped and tried to save them, but your grandpa, Sheila and aunt Addison drown and the doctors did everything they could, but they couldn't save them" Chloe explained whispering, and stroke her daughter's cheek when a tear fell through it "I know, everybody is really sad about it, and your momma, she's physically…" she looked at Aubrey.

"She threw up, but she's much better now" Aubrey explained.

"Right" Chloe nodded "She's physically okay, but emotionally, you can imagine how broken she is. She already lost grandma Sarah, uncle Joseph, aunt Kendra, and cousin Jack, and this is too much for any normal person to handle, so she's just gonna need to rest, and to have us by her side, okay?" Beth nodded, and sniffled "Don't worry baby, everything is gonna be okay, we're gonna help momma the best we can, and things will be better sooner or later, but it will be okay." Beth hugged her mother, and Chloe hugged her tight, and kissed her "I promise I will talk with your sibling as soon as possible tomorrow so you don't have to keep the secret for long. I know things are very fucked up right now, but it's just temporary."

A while later, Jesse carefully disentangled himself from Beca, who was clinging to Jesse as they both lied on her bed, and Chloe thanked him and, once he and Aubrey left and she locked the house, she ran upstairs, got into her pajamas quickly, and slid into bed, hugging Beca tightly. Beca woke up crying a bit later, but Chloe was already hugging her and whispering comforting words, and the broken girl didn't took long to fall asleep again.

The funeral was three days later, at Portland's cemetery, next to the graves of Sarah Baker and Joseph, Kendra and Jack Mitchell. Once the burial was done, they kept standing there. Chloe had Noah in his stroller, next to her, and the boy was sleeping well tuck in a blanket. Kai was next to him, and Chloe had a hand on her shoulder, and her other arm was hugging Beca close from her side. Beth and Micah stood in front of Beca holding hands, and Beca had her hands on their shoulders. Everybody had been crying during days after the tragic situation, and they all looked sad and exhausted. Beca, however, barely cried some silent tears during the funeral, after having been crying herself to sleep for several days, that she had also spent mostly in bed, crying.

"Take them home, will you?" Beca interrupted the silence with a hoarse voice, staring at Chloe.

"What about you? How are you gonna get back home?" Chloe asked.

"I want to stay alone for a bit more. Don't worry, I'll walk back home, it's not that far away, and I could actually use some alone time walking around." Beca replied. She then knelt on the ground between her eldest children, the two that, because they were older and had more time with the family they had just buried, were closer to them than their younger siblings. Beca was pale, serious, and her eyes looked empty, nothing like three days ago at her concert, where every bit of herself was grinning and sank in joy. She had bags under her eyes, because between the nightmares she had been having, and her own sadness and cries, she had barely slept. She put her hands on Beth and Micah's backs, and the children turned to look at her, their own eyes puffy from crying. Beca hugged them both at the same time and rubbed their backs "We're gonna go back home, and we will be okay. I'm not gonna drown too, I promise. I'm here for you, I love you." She whispered in their ears.

After a long time of crying her eyes out knelt in front of those graves, she stood up, and started walking back home, not following the shortest way, but the one she liked the most. She had stopped crying, deciding that from the second she left the cemetery, she had to work her ass off to put herself together for her family. She remembered that seeing her mother cry her eyes out after her divorce, or after her brother's death, didn't help her one bit, but gave her one more thing to worry about. And a kid should never have to worry about their parents, parents were supposed to be the strong rock their children could lain on.

She walked with her hands into her pockets, absentmindedly looking down. She then saw the cafeteria where, on her wedding day, her father had took her to have breakfast. Some hours later, he had walked her down the aisle. Her eyes watered instantly, but she blinked them away and went into the cafeteria.

"Hey Mitchell" the lady smiled sadly at her. She was wearing black clothes, and Beca thought she may have seen her at the cemetery. Everybody knew the Mitchells in Portland "I've got something for you." The same old lady Beca had seen there since she was a kid –she may have ten or fifteen years more than her father- went to the kitchen and then came back to the bar, handing Beca a big box. Beca opened it and saw at least fifty cream puffs, the same from her childhood "It was the usual order when your father and you came here, wasn't it? I thought you'd like it." Beca grinned and nodded, looking at the lady.

"Thank you" she said sincerely "But this is too much, I didn't bring much money on me."

"This is a gift, silly" the woman said "Remember we used to give you one for your birthday for free every year? Well, I guess we've missed a few ones, didn't we?"

"I don't think there were that many" Beca curved her eyes into a tiny smile and nodded, closing the box, and taking it "Thank you. Have a good day."

"You too."

Beca left carrying the box with her, and not much longer, barely realizing while she was so immersed in her thoughts, she arrived her mother's house. She contemplated for a moment the same spot in the entryway stairs where she saw her brother throw up one time, when he came back from a party with seventeen years old, drunk, and she opened the house that night so their mother wouldn't catch him. She opened the door. That house, unlike hers, wasn't full of photographs of her whole family, both sides, or the Beales, or their friends. That house was full of old photographs, many still sepia or black and white, from hers and Joseph childhoods and lives until her mother's death, when Beca was twenty five. There were photos of their family, Beca's grandparents and great grandparents, uncles, great uncles, and etc.

Beca walked to the living room, where she heard noise, and saw Chloe, Emily and Amy were sitting on the carpet playing with Noah, who had just woken up, and Lloyd, Amy's fourth and last kid, who was born last November, and David, Emily's second and last kid, who was born last October. Aubrey and Jesse were sitting close by, talking with Chloe and with the Bellas that had come there with their families: Amy, Emily and Jessica. Ashley's husband was very busy and the family hadn't been able to come, and Lilly got married a few weeks ago and was still on Honeymoon. The rest, Flo, Cynthia and Stacie, were in mid times of their latest pregnancies, and weren't in any state to travel the world. Well, Cynthia wasn't pregnant, but her wife was. All the children were scattered around the house, playing and enjoying each other companies, although Beth and Micah had preferred to just sit with Chloe and their little brother. Angela and Amelia were there, too.

"Momma" Beth exclaimed when she saw Beca enter the room, and the others looked.

"I got a gift and it requires over a hundred hungry wolves" Beca joked showing the big box between her hands.

Beth and Micah ran and opened the box.

"What's this?" Micah asked.

"It's something your grandpa Alan used to get for me all the time when I was little. On my wedding day, he took be to have breakfast at this great place we've known forever, and I ate so many of these, I was barely hungry at lunch." Beca explained with a little smirk.

Later that afternoon, the six Mitchells were sitting on the sofa, and Beth had asked Beca to explain her who some people she had seen in photographs around the house were. Some of their friends were still around, but most of them had gone back to the hotels to leave them some time for themselves.

Beca had an old photo album on her knees.

"This is your grandma Sarah's dad, Ethan. I think he used to work at a port in Montréal, Canada, not too far away from here. He married a French woman who lived there, Gabrielle something, and they had grandma Sarah and a few others who, by know, or are dead or are too far away and out of our lives" Beca explained.

"Grandma was pretty" Kai said.

"Yes, she was" Beca smiled "Remember my wedding dress? It was hers. Anyway…"

"Who's this with the military cap?" Beth pointed to another black and white photograph.

"I believe that's grandpa Alan as a child. His grandfather was Colonel Joseph Mitchell and died in some war, I don't know much. But your uncle Joseph was named after him, although they never met. See this one here? This is my paternal grandfather, and this little one would be me."

"You look like Micah" Chloe commented and Beca smiled a bit.

"Yeah, we're somehow alike. Micah is manlier though."

"I like that photo" Micah smiled.

When the morning came, Beca woke up surprisingly early, for how tired she felt, but she figured she wasn't going to rest anyway. She walked over around the silent house and to the living room, and sat down on the sofa, taking one of the old albums from a drawer and opening it over her knees, sitting with her side against the back of the sofa. It wasn't seven in the morning yet, and she knew she could use some alone time. She had taken the album of the first three years of her life, and the first photos were from when she had just been born.

She stopped at one of them. Her father had her between his arms, holding her carefully wrapped in a blanked that her children had inherited. Five year old Joseph was standing next to them, reaching a hand to stroke Beca's cheek. Some photos forward, she stopped again for a minute. There was a photo of her with three years old or around that, and she was walking while her father took her by the hand, seemingly explaining something to her as she looked up listened closely. Beca's lip trembled when she saw their hands entangled. Alan used to take her hand with his pinky protectively wrapped around Beca's wrist, when she was older they had explained her back in the day they met a lot of people whose kids slipped from their hands because the grip wasn't good enough and had accidents, so her dad found that was a great way of keeping her safe, although she hated it and covertly she always slid her hand back into a normal position. Beca ended up taking her children hands just the same, and they, too, slipped as she usually did. Beca let out a long breath trying to find some relief for the great weight in her chest. Another photo was of her learning piano with her mom… or guitar with her dad. That album finished, she went back to the drawer where the albums were, took another, and sat again. This one was from Joseph and Kendra's wedding. Beca's heart sank as she saw a photo where she was standing beside the groom, holding little Addie, who had maybe four months there or something like that, and Alan was grinning looking at them with a hand on Beca's back. Beca was kissing the baby's cheek and Joseph seemed to be saying something, with a hand on Beca's back too and the other pinching the baby's other cheek softly.

She was just a baby. Addie was just a baby. A month ago, they had been celebrating her thirteen birthday, for God's sake. And Alan and Sheila were so young, mostly Sheila, but still. Beca never loved Sheila with her whole heart, but she made her dad happy, Addie loved her, and Sheila had been so good with Beca and her family in the last few years despite her slips from time to time, and still, Beca would never wish her such a horrible death. She remembered the desperation in Alan's eyes as they both kicked the same window, both drowning, and she remembered seeing him unconscious, she remembered perfectly well how she realized she couldn't hit the grass forcefully because the water slower her hand down and she started panicking there, under the water. She dreamed with that every time she closed her eyes.

Beca had reached a level of sadness beyond losing a father, a sister, or a step mother. Beca had suddenly went from one of the happiest moments of her life to suddenly finding herself orphan, less than a month before her thirty fifth birthday, now she was an orphan. And not only that, but she had no siblings left, no more Mitchells, no more family left. Her original family was over, death, the ones she grew up with, that were everywhere she could remember, they were all dead. The ones that taught her everything she knew. If it wasn't because Chloe asked her to marry her and they had children, she would have no family. And even then, her only consanguineous relatives were her two boys. She couldn't even cry, her insides were weighting too much for that to be any relief. She saw every holiday how big the Beales were, all the gingers and not so gingers, but the enormous Chloe's family, and then it was her, with nothing else. No family except for the one that she founded, not the one she was raised in. No familiar surroundings anymore, nobody to tell embarrassing stories about when she was younger, or to talk to her about her relatives, or remind her things she had long forgotten. Her childhood died, and now, everybody who could ever remind her it ever existed was dead too. She only had that house to remind her she was once someone with a family before she was twenty something and married Chloe, and even that house was starting to be hated for her too.

She dragged herself to the drawer to leave the album, and walked back to her bed, feeling her enormous sadness inside, and trying not to put her eyes on the wall her parents used to have full of their height lines, the step were Joseph lost his first teeth, the corner where Beca hit her head for the first time, or the sofa that had seen so many pillow fights between the siblings, and even their parents. Chloe was sleeping, and Beca tried not to make any noise as she moved under the covers, and carefully hugged her, being hugged back almost immediately. She knew she wasn't going to be able to hold back her sadness enough for her family to not to suffer from it, but she was going to try as best as she could. She hated not having the comfort of the people she had known from forever, literally, but she decided to try to sleep, and at least while she slept, she wouldn't feel so incredibly alone.

"Becs? Police wants to see you" Chloe said one day opening the house to her mothers' house.

"Tell him to come in" Beca shouted from the garden, where the children, some of their friends and herself were chilling. When Beca saw the cop come into the garden, her heart sank and she slowly stood up from the grass where she and Beth were sitting "That are my family's suitcases, why?"

"The hotel needs the room, this was everything they had, and these are the bags where we put everything that wasn't in the suitcases, although it wasn't much" the cop explained, leaving carefully two big suitcases, a travel bag, and some plastic bags. Chloe, who had come walking behind the cop, turned pale watching Beca carefully "I'm sorry."

Beca shook her head.

"It's okay, you're right, these things need to be given to the family, and I was their only direct relative alive" Beca nodded for herself "Could you please leave them inside, if you'd be so kind?" That was a curious thing Beca did, when she was too sad, or upset, she turned incredibly, almost tediously kind and polite, so much sometimes people wanted to hit some rudeness into her mouth. And then she spoke with such little strength in her mouth, like it hurt to speak, and like she was afraid of making anybody the slightest upset.

"Sure ma'am" the cop nodded "Uh, my boss told me I should let you know… the people who caused your family's death… well, they died in the crash too." Beca nodded slowly.

"Okay. Thank you, have a nice day" Beca went back to sit with Beth, Chloe showed the cop the door, and then went back and sat next to Beca, eyeing her cautiously, but the woman was busy playing chess on the grass with Beth and losing.

"Are you gonna… maybe look what they have inside? Do something with it?" Chloe asked cautiously.

"When I feel good enough to put myself under that pain, I will, and I will go to their house and fix stuff, and maybe sell everything. Right now, I just want to take Beth's queen down." Beca said hoarsely. She had been crying so much, her voice was somehow broken.

"Momma, maybe you'd want to play some music later?" Micah suggested coming over "Maybe listen to some mixes?"

Beca looked up to her son and put a strain of bangs in its place with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry son, but I'm not really feeling well for that, I'm sorry."

"It's okay mom… I just thought it could maybe make you feel any better, you always say music always helps with everything."

"There are some things in the world, Micah, that not even Beethoven could relieve" she saw Micah frown "Don't worry about me, that's not your job uh? I'll get better on my own terms, I swear." She added against his ear keeping him close with an arm around his legs.

The following day, everybody, including them, was going back home. After a teary and sad session of goodbyes, the Mitchell family got into their private jet, and Beca, with Noah between her arms both of them wrapped on a blanket, fell asleep against Chloe's shoulder. Chloe keep her cheek against Beca's hair, and a hand on Noah to make sure Beca's arms still held him. A nightmare woke Beca up not even twenty minutes later.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, seeing Beca's pale face "I mean… did you… was that a nightmare?" Beca nodded slowly.

"We got my father's things, right?" Beca asked.

"Yes, I kept their suitcases with ours, and the things police put into plastic bags, I shoved them into our handbags" Chloe explained. She had taken over all the organization, since Beca was too numb to barely listen to anything, let alone get into the tiring task of organizing a trip and suitcases.

"Have you seen his wallet?" Beca asked "I just remembered that they probably had things on their pockets, if there was anything important, I wanted to make sure police didn't lose it."

"Yes, their pocket stuff was in the plastic bags I think. I remember putting your father's wallet into one of the handbags, do you want it?"

"Please" Beca nodded. Chloe stood up and took the handbag from kind of a closet that the jet had, taking the wallet out and giving it to Beca, before putting the suitcase back into its place and sitting beside Beca again. Kamara was drawing in her seat, Micah playing with his dinosaurs, and Beth looking through the window. Beca had taken a lot of time and one pill to be in any disposition to leave the place, and Chloe had even suggested staying until she was ready, but Beca refused.

Beca kept Noah properly held against her chest and stared at the wallet. Beca had given it to him last Christmas, after his had broken in the summer. Beca breathed deeply, and opened it with trembling hands, the leather a bit ruined from the water. Inside, there were some bucks completely ruined, and inside the plastic covered pocket for the ID, there were three tiny photographs. Beca breathed deeply feeling her eyes wet, and Chloe kissed her temple hugging her with one arm.

"Go on" Chloe encouraged her with a whisper. Beca took the photographs out. One, was baby Addison, another, Joseph, Kendra and Jack. And the third was Beca with a newborn Beth.

"Fuck" Beca whispered with a trembling sob. She quickly shoved the photos back in the wallet, and the wallet in her jacket, before hugging Noah tighter and closing her eyes supporting her wet cheeks against the head of the sleeping baby. She worked on her breathing while Chloe stroke her head and cheeks softly, cleaning her tears with a thumb.

"It's okay Beca. It'll be okay." It had been ten years without losing any family rather than their unborn baby, and Beca had thought it would be much longer until anybody else died. _Stupid fool_ she told herself.


	25. Chapter 25

Beca hated that feeling that always came after someone very close died, when you didn't want a second to pass and it hurt to feel that each second was more second away from that life where they were alive. She knew her life wasn't the same and not even she was the same person anymore. She hated that one day she would be seventy and the time where her dad and sister were alive, like the time where the rest of her family was alive, would be so far gone, that it would feel like a good dream, like another life, like a world she didn't belong to anymore. She felt she had been so unfairly deprived of an amazing thing. She didn't want to feel like that amazing part of her life wasn't her life anymore, but another world far away, and she missed all of her eight lost family members so much, and it hurt so much, she sometimes felt like she was burning from all the ice inside. She still needed them. When they were alive, Beca called her mother every week, and they talked about romances, family, food, and problems, like when she was a teenager. She missed those conversations so much now, and having Chloe or children didn't help, because nobody can substitute another person. She called her brother many times per week, or he or Kendra would call her, so she could listen to her nephew, or forget about her problems, or talk stupid random stuff and laugh with them. She needed her father's help for all the technical things that a handyman could do, but Beca refused to not do herself, feeling she shouldn't need a stranger to help her family, and she would have her father on the phone explaining her how to fix this or another thing, and now, she would have to call a handyman. She loved talking with Addie and hearing the teen remind her her teenage years as she would talk about boys, homework, or stupid teachers, and Beca laughed a lot, and then handed the phone to her children so they could remind Addie for her toddler days Beca held in her heart with so much love. And now, everything reminded her of them, and there was nothing she could do. She felt so lost, and alone.

Beca had swore to herself she wouldn't cry or show major levels of sadness in front of her children, any of them, so every time she, without a reason or with one, felt like crying, she would slip into a room, lock it, and cry as softly as possible, muffling her cries against a pillow or whatever she had closer, and Chloe would realize and, if she was busy, in the second she was free, she would go with Beca, and hug her tight while she cried, and then listen if Beca had something to say. She wouldn't listen or do music. She would keep herself busy with as many tasks as possible too, but never her work, because she felt her work caused those deceases in the first place. Beca had also been experiencing the all too well known symptoms of anxiety that came with the moments of great sadness, and that anxiety would sometimes, even when she was having fun or not thinking about anything sad, make her heart beat so fast, or so slow, she would find herself sighing, or breathing very deeply, to try and feel better.

"It occurs to me many reasons why we shouldn't do it" Chloe started one day, hugging Beca from behind as the brunette washed the dishes and the children watched TV, except Kamara and Noah, who were sleeping "but I think we should visit Tampa. I think the sun, and our family, will do you good."

"Your family" Beca corrected with a whisper. She wasn't exactly whispering, but talking really low, because her throat hurt from all the crying. Chloe sighed.

"Our family" Chloe said again "Beca, we are married, and therefore, our two families and the one we formed together create one same family for the six of us to have. You are a part of it too, just like I am, even if we don't have their last name."

"My family from birth died, and my own family I made, is composed by five persons and myself" Beca said stubbornly "Your family is my family in-law."

"When did the in-law part ever stop you from considering them part of your family?"

"Chloe, they are part of my family, they are your family, they are my children's uncles, and cousins, and grandparents and stuff, but they aren't my consanguineous Chloe. It's not that I'm rejecting them, you know I love them. It's just that I cannot possibly consider them my father, my mother, my brother, my sisters, when I have them, I have my own, just that they pass their days six feet under the ground in some corner of a cemetery in Maine. But that doesn't mean I don't have them already, and if I start even trying to feel your family like mine in that way, it feels wrong, like substituting, and bad. It's the same reason why you can't feel as bad as I feel for all of this, because you didn't lose your family. You lost your in-law family, which isn't the same, because if it was, and if it was so simple and easy to consider both of our families and this one of us, one same family, then, you would have been as miserable as I have." Beca said patiently, while brushing a plate. Chloe rested her cheek against her shoulder for a moment, not saying anything for a bit.

"Alright, they are your family in-law" Chloe nodded "Well, your family in-law loves you too, and they call so often, and you never want to talk with them anymore, or with anyone for that matter. They're worried about you, I'm worried about you, and I think despite the numerous reasons why going to Tampa could be a bad idea, it can still make you feel better." This time was Beca who stood in silence for some seconds until she spoke again.

"I don't want to talk to anyone, because it's always the same shit Chloe, they call to feel like they are actually trying to help, and then they feel sorry for you, and then you have to talk to them and pretend everything is perfect because if you didn't, they wouldn't know what to do but to look sadly at you with pity like if you were some kind of charity work. They stop treating you like a person and more like something they have to fix, or some poor homeless they have to offer a dollar just so they can feel better about themselves" Beca said with certain frustration in her voice "I'm not saying it with hate, you know how much I love your family, and our friends, and I'm forever grateful for at least having them, but I don't have the energy to pretend, and I don't have the energy or the mood to stand being treated like if suddenly I wasn't capable of anything and I was just some poor excuse of a human being. Didn't it happen with you when Noah died, or when our unborn did? Because with me is always the same story Chloe, and I don't even have to lose someone, it's enough with being in the hospital, suddenly I became disabled for months until people started realizing I was capable of breastfeeding my own child without ten people looking."

"Beca" Chloe sighed in frustration.

"Chloe, everybody does that, it's not… I love them, it's not their fault… it's just that people aren't taught how to deal with the misery of life, so they expect misery to fake it's okay when it's not so they can feel better. It's how the world works, I had to lose four relatives to stop doing that same thing."

"Maybe if you'd give them a chance, they could show you they don't do that anymore. They didn't when our unborn died, or at least, it didn't feel like that for me. When you were in the hospital, you were disabled, but because a doctor said so and that's why you were treated like that. People learn Beca."

"Fine" Beca sighed rubbing the sponge over a spoon "Let's go to Tampa."

"I don't want you to feel forced to go. We won't go if you don't really want to."

"Chloe, I don't want to sit with a bunch of people, no matter how close they are, and ruin their mood, or try not to cry when crying is what my body is begging me to do."

"We can do it the same way we do it here, you go when you feel like it. Beca, I know it's embarrassing to cry in front of people, but they've seen you worse, and they've always supported you. They just want to be a shoulder to cry on or whatever you need."

"You know I'm not as open as you are, even less with that" Beca cleaned a bowl "We are going to Tampa regardless of me, and I'll tell you what. You've been locked here with me for almost a week, going out only to walk our dog, and the children have barely seen the light of the sun, and if we go to Tampa, you have your family there, and the children have cousins to keep them entertained."

"You don't have to be a prisoner Beca, I'm not sacrificing your happiness for ours, we are perfectly fine here, if it's for us, we don't need to go."

"I'll be as miserable here than there, and maybe with a bit of luck, you'll be right and it'll make me feel better."

"Okay" Chloe kissed her shoulder "When?"

"Call your mom, set any day, I don't care when" Beca replied.

"Okay" Chloe nodded "Kiss?" Beca finished the last plate she was cleaning, and turned, getting into a make out session with Chloe. Chloe smiled taking her face between her hands, and focused in her eyes "I'm here for you."

"I know" Beca nodded "I'm gonna take a nap. You set that with Anna."

Two days later, they were having lunch at the Beale's household. They had arrived that morning after taking an early plane, and now they had been eating for a while. Chloe's siblings had flown back to Tampa for the summer, so the kids had all their cousins there, and were around playing like crazy, and now it was adult's time. Little Noah had woken up from his nap and was playing alone sitting on the carpet next to the table so his mothers could keep an eye on him constantly while he practiced his standing techniques, supporting himself on the furniture, although he wasn't walking yet. Or talking.

"Oh, he's so cute" Gwen smiled at her nephew. She was having her third kid, Julia, in September, that would be joining her brothers Owen and Samuel "He's quite bigger than last time we saw him."

"Yeah" Chloe smiled at the boy that wore overalls, who, not caring about loneliness, was standing supporting himself on a bookshelf while making a toy train drive through the shelf.

"He doesn't even care he's all alone playing" Charles commented.

"No, he's just like Beca with that" Chloe smiled at Beca, who just kept eating in silence, not listening to the conversation "Can be perfectly well alone with his toys most of the time."

"Oh, careful!" George advised, but it was too late. Noah had stumbled and made the bookshelf tremble, causing a book to fall on his head. It wasn't a big book, but that didn't keep the boy from falling on his ass, crying until his face turned red. Chloe was closer to him than Beca, and quickly walked to him and took her up in her arms kissing his head.

"Oh, did you hurt yourself buddy? It was an accident, book didn't want to hurt you" Chloe picked the book from the floor and let it in its place while bouncing Noah softly and kissing him, but the boy kept crying. Beca was staring at them intently, and then the boy looked at her and extended his arms towards her.

"Momma! Momma!" He yelled between heavy sobs, and everybody looked surprised. Beca smiled at him, and Chloe grinned.

"He just said his very first words! You want momma Noah?" Chloe smiled at the boy excitedly.

"Mommaaa!" he cried with his whole lungs, and Beca pushed his chair back to make space on her knees, and extended her arms towards Chloe.

"Come" Beca took Noah from Chloe's arms when Chloe gave him to her and sat next to them, and Beca sat Noah on her knees, and hugged him to her chest, caressing his head and kissing the spot where he had received the hit. It couldn't have hurt him more than a soft slap, and the diapers had sure protected his butt, but it was understandable that a boy that young felt quite upset about it "Noah, I see you're upset, what can I do for you?" Beca whispered by his ear. Noah was just sobbing quietly now, and had Beca's t-shirt gripped with his tiny fists.

"Maybe if you sing for him, he likes that" Chloe suggested carefully.

"No" Beca stroke his cheek softly "My throat it's too sore for that" she said. It wasn't a lie, more like a poor excuse, but not a lie.

"I think he's momma's boy, that's all. He wanted his momma" Hannah said smiling at the boy. Noah opened his eyes and hiccupped looking at Hannah, who was sitting near enough.

"Momma!" he yelled, like if he had heard that word, and he was showing he knew that one "Momma" he repeated with a much lower voice looking up at Beca, who smiled stroking his cheek.

"Yes son, I'm your momma" she confirmed.

"Momma" he repeated looking down, calmer and not upset anymore. Beca cleaned his face carefully with her sleeve.

"Here" Beca took a cork from the table, that had been the wine's cork, and put it close to Noah's nose, who first frowned, and then pulled back with a tiny giggle. Beca smiled a tiny bit "Works every time. Here, keep it." Noah took the cork in his hand, and observed it cautiously while leaning his head against Beca's chest and enjoying being snuggled between her mother's arms "Next time Noah, don't support yourself in furniture bigger than you, okay? Mitchells are jinxed enough to risk our luck." Beca saw Noah was entertained enough and continued eating a bit more.

"How are the kids doing with everything?" Cormac, Gwen's husband, asked cautiously.

"I explained them what happened" Chloe replied "Beth and Micah understand it pretty well because they're older, although they had never been alive to lose anybody until now. Kai don't understand as well, and put up a tantrum the other day when she asked why we hadn't said goodbye to grandpa before going back home and we reminded her and she just… she's trying to understand it, she's too young yet." Beca tried not to pay attention to that part of the conversation.

"It's normal, she's almost a baby yet" Anna commented "How are you doing, Bec?" Beca sighed seeing she couldn't ignore the conversation anymore, and looked up.

"Well…" she bit her lip for a second "Right when I thought Universe couldn't fuck my family up more, it goes and kills the only relatives I had left, and now I'm an orphan, and I've lost all of my siblings between which is a kid, so…" she shrugged "I think I could be much worse. As long as I comply with my motherly duties…" she shrugged again, and looked down to see Noah starting to fall asleep, his thumb into his mouth, and with his other hand he played absentmindedly and sleepily with the cork "At least the others are as dead as my father, that's something."

"Where they drunk? The other drivers" Charles asked. Beca hadn't been quite attentive with what police –or anybody- had to say in Norfolk, so she looked at Chloe for the answer. She had never wondered herself.

"No" Chloe replied "They said it didn't seem like it, more like they were driving too fast and skipped a traffic light and crashed against their car. They weren't wearing a seatbelt either, so they died in the crash."

"Can we please not talk about it?" Beca asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry honey" Chloe kissed her cheek "It's just… you always refuse to talk about it, I thought you wanted now… I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry Chlo" Beca kissed Noah's head, seeing he was asleep "It's just…" she sighed in frustration "had you been there, you would understand. I was there, underwater, Chloe, I know how horrific that is, it's why I have nightmares every time I fall asleep. It was traumatic, it was horrible, and I'd rather only be reminded about that in my dreams and not when I'm wide awake too. You would never want to talk about it if you had lived it. I'm gonna carry Noah to bed, it was delicious Anna" she added looking at her mother in law as she stood up accommodating Noah on her hip as she quickly walked upstairs and stormed into Chloe's childhood bedroom where they sleep, while muttering stuff "What do they think…? …so fucked up…" it could be heard. Beca laid Noah down in his crib, and covered him with a blanket, kissing him on the cheek "Sleep tight buddy" She turned around, and her hand went quickly to her chest to prevent her from the panic attack of suddenly seeing Beth sitting on the feet of their bed. She had stormed into the room so fast she hadn't see her daughter "Jesus, Beth, you almost gave me a heart attack here."

"Sorry mom" Beth said with a whisper, and Beca noticed she was looking down and discreetly cleaning an eye, while holding Beca's cell, that she had forgotten on her nightstand, between her hands. Beca softened immediately and frowned walking towards her.

"Hey, what's wrong sweetie?" Beca asked softly sitting beside her and putting a hand on the back of the soon to be seven year old. Then she noticed Beca had been going through Beca's photos –the kids knew Beca's password- and had stopped in one photo of Alan sitting on their sofa holding baby Beth while Sheila sat in one side, and Addie, who at that time had around six years old, sat in the other side smiling at Beth while stroking her cheek softly with a finger. Beca remembered that had been around a couple days after they had come back home from the hospital with their brand new newborn.

"Nothing" Beth sniffled and Beca rubbed her back "It's just… I miss them so much mom. They've always been there, you know? And I don't understand, because here, mamma's family has talked to us about religions, and how a lot of people believe there's some God that does good things and cares for us and protect us and loves us, and created us, but I can't understand how such a good being could be so bad with our family. What did we do to lose so many of us already? Is it… were they such bad people that they didn't deserve to grow old, meet their grandchildren and everything? And I didn't even got to meet many of them. Noah knows anybody. It's just so unfair." Beca sighed, and Beth looked up to her, her eyes, the same piercing blue eyes Chloe had, focusing on her stormy ones, and her long to her shoulders ginger hair fell in waves. Beca breathed deeply and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I think you just got why I don't believe there's a God out there. I'm not saying there isn't, only that if it does, he's a, and you should never say this, but a complete asshole and a jerk" Beca curved her lips into a tiny, forced sad smile "I was always the youngest. Always, of my maternal family, my paternal, and in my own, I've always been the youngest, until aunty Addie came. They've always been there for me, and they were all I ever had for twenty seven years of my life, when I married your mamma, and if it wasn't for her and for you and your siblings, I would be completely alone, with nobody to call my family. Everybody is dead now, or too distant from me to even know if they're still alive. I'm sorry I could never give you a big family like your mom's, or tell you much about them because being the youngest, I don't know much myself, but Mitchells, we were always distant people, lonely wolves I guess. Your mom is the whole opposite, and I guess she saved me from that. I only got to meet my paternal grandparents, and God, I loved them so much, and they were so good they would talk to me about the others, that I never met. It was like a fairy tale, being told about so many people from our family that seemed so cool, but we never knew what happened with them, if you remembered what it was like the first time I went to update our family tree to include you, I had to do so much investigation in libraries and stuff to get to find out just names" she shrugged, and Beth smiled a bit. Her eyes were watery, and so were Beca's "I don't know why they had to go honey, but I know for sure, those people I've known, and the ones I've been told about, weren't bad people, but very, very good ones. We were one hell of a family, and we still are, and any of us deserved to die. Your grandmother, uncle Joseph, aunt Kendra and cousin Jack, who didn't even got to be three years old, were amazing people, truly amazing, funny, caring, intelligent… and Sheila wasn't such a bad person either. She was nice with you, and that is all I've ever wanted. Grandpa… he was the best father I could've ever asked for. He made his mistakes, but in the end, he was the man that dressed up as Santa so many times for me, the one that made me want to do all kinds of crazy stuff for you guys for Christmas and birthdays and stuff, the guy that paid my entire first year of maintenance in Los Angeles when I graduated Barden, and he made sure to do everything in his life to show me how sorry he was for having missed so much in my life in the past. He was there at my wedding for himself and for all that couldn't be, he was always there for you and your siblings…" she shrugged and cleaned a tear from her cheek. Her daughter listened closely, so needy to hear things from the people she could never talk with ever again "And Addie" she smiled "She was my little sister. And she was a great girl Beth."

"And a great aunt" Beth added, and Beca nodded.

"Yes" Beca nodded "At least, we got to have some great last weeks with them uh? Travelling the world?" Beth nodded, and she put her back on Beca's knees, lying there while Beca stroke her head and sniffled calming herself. She wasn't supposed to cry in front of Beth, but she couldn't avoid it, and Beth didn't seem to mind, she was cleaning her own cheeks too.

"What happened mom?" Beth asked after a moment of silence "What was what really happened that night, when they fell? Did they die when they were hit?"

"No" Beca sighed looking to the crib in front of them "According to the doctor that says what happened to a person to cause their death, your step grandmother Sheila" it was the first time ever she called Sheila anything close to grandmother, and her children had never done it, understanding their grandmother was dead "was the only one that died from the impact, because the car hit them against her door, and she broke her neck from the impact" Beth winced "I'm sorry, I shouldn't…"

"No, it's okay. I want to know, I'm not a toddler anymore" Beth smiled encouragingly and Beca nodded with a tiny smile.

"Aunt Addie was alive she had just fainted because she hit her head against the window. Granddad Alan… he was alive and perfectly conscious. Uncle Jesse and I… we… we tried to save them Beth. I want you to know that, okay?" Beth nodded, and Beca nodded "We jumped into the water, we swam until we reached the car, that was sinking quite fast. I saw granddad was awake, so I indicated Jesse to go to the other side and get Sheila, and I tried opening the door, and your grandpa was yelling at me, yelling my name, yelling Addie's. He wanted me to leave him and save her first" she wasn't talking to her child anymore, she was staring at the crib, but she wasn't seeing it. She could only see the car, the water, her dad, and she was talking in whispers, in automatic "I didn't want to, he was my dad, I couldn't leave him. I know I should've saved Addie, I was responsible of her, she was my little sister, I could've saved them both had I tried to open the back doors, but I was too focused on your grandpa's door to try. Jesse finally got to open the other door, and then we went running against the clock, Jesse and I didn't have much oxygen left, and now the car was full of water very suddenly, and your grandpa had been yelling, so he gulped water, he didn't have time to take a breath long enough. Jesse took Sheila and your grandpa helped him take Addie while I swam to that side, and then grandpa was unconscious, so I took him up while Jesse took the girls. It was my stubbornness, my pride, my egoism, that killed them Beth. It was my fault. I couldn't have saved Sheila, she was already dead, but if I had tried to open the other two doors, to get Addie, they would've probably opened easily, and we wouldn't have taken so long, at least Addie would be alive, and probably both of them" silent tears fell down her cheeks, until a sob came up, and she covered her face with her hands "I'm sorry Beth. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry."

"It's okay mom" Beth sat on her lap and put Beca's hands away from her face, cleaning her tears before putting kisses around her whole face "Hey, don't cry momma, it's alright." Beth smiled at her just like Chloe, and cleaned her own wet cheeks "It wasn't your fault momma. I know, because you can always see it on the movies, how sometimes no matter what you do, things just have to happen one way, and they will no matter how much you insist on the opposite. Plus" she added, kissing Beca again "what counts isn't what you didn't do. What counts is that you didn't stand outside doing nothing, you were running towards them even before they fell on the water, I saw! You were the first one to run to help them. Hadn't you done it, they would have died there, completely alone, and with nobody to find them probably, because who knows how deep into the water would the car have been by the time help came? It doesn't matter that you didn't save them, what matters is that you tried your best momma, I know you did, to help them, and even if you couldn't at the end, at least they had you there. Grandpa died knowing you were trying your best, and knowing they weren't alone, and you were going to take them home to us. They're home now, thanks to you." Beca sobbed and stared astonished at her daughter, who grinned at her with her tiny hands on her mother's cheeks.

"You really believe that?" Beca asked with a sob, and Beth nodded eagerly.

"I know that" Beth emphasized "Momma, you're one of the bravest persons I've ever known! You're like, super brave, and you're always the first one to react! You risked your life to save mamma years ago, even if you had to go through hell and your arm was so bad for so long afterwards, you were there by mamma when uncle Noah died, you fought when that guy attacked mamma at school, and you were with mamma when she had a car crash, and you saved that kid, and you've done so many things! Like when you saved Lucy from drowning in our pool, or that time, when Micah was still a baby, and _Billie_ one night threw something off the table, and made a lot of noise so we all woke up and were so scared thinking somebody had gone into our house, and you took that bat, and went downstairs and we were right behind you, and you weren't afraid at all! Remember how you told us to stay quiet in the stairs, and you went into the dark living, turned the lights on, and registered the entire house alone, all by yourself, and then came back a while later saying it had been the dog, and that all was fine? You've always been so brave mom, you've always taken such good care of all of us, and it didn't matter how scared you were, you always put everybody else first. You always do, I don't think many people would have ever done half of the things you have even. I always feel safer around you because I know you're my badass mom and that you will always kill whoever tries to hurt us, like when you first carried me to the beach, and I was so afraid of the waves, so you carried me inside, walking backwards so your back would hit the waves and they wouldn't get to me, and you shouted to the water to get the fuck away from your kid!" by that time, Beth had tears of laughter, and Beca was smiling at her.

"Yeah, those waves" Beca nodded.

"Yeah" Beth nodded too "You're my hero mom. If anything, you aren't a bad guy, you are my hero."

"Am I?" Beca sniffled, and Beth nodded all smiley.

"You're the best momma. Why would I ever need a dad and a mom, if I have you and mamma?" Beth said matter of factly, and Beca hugged her tightly "I love you momma."

"I love you so much baby" Beca closed her eyes enjoying the hug "You're so brave too, you know? I'm brave because you guys make me brave. Because" she pulled apart, her hands on Beth's cheeks "always remember Beth, that when you have the most to lose, then not being the bravest isn't even an option. You put your shit together, and you protect what's yours. When I feel I'm not brave enough to do something, I think, what the fuck Mitchell? You protect your family. That's what you do, you take care of your people always."

"That's right" Beth put a hand up for a high five, and Beca high fived her, smiling "Momma, I think if we don't want Noah to cry, we should let him sleep."

"You're right, just one last thing" Beca took her cell and showed her the photo she had been staring at before "Never forget them baby. We'll make sure your siblings know all about them, we'll keep their memory alive. But never forget they loved you like crazy, and that they will always be here with you, and looking over you. Nothing would make them happier than seeing you grow old like they couldn't, and having enjoyed life."

"I won't disappoint them mom" Beth promised, and smiled at Beca "Can I go with you and the adults for a bit? I like playing but I think I've had too much playing lately, and I like to hear from my elders' wise."

"You're so weird. I like you kid" Beca smiled standing up and taking her hand, guiding her downstairs after a quick stop by the bathroom to make sure they were presentable.

The adults were still like Beca left them, but now they had finished their desserts. They stopped talking when they saw them, and Beth ran to her grandfather's lap under Chloe's tender eyes.

"Was Noah hungry?" George asked Beca.

"No, he's asleep. I bumped into one amazing midget and decided to spend some quality time with her" Beca replied smiling at Beth, who smiled back at her.

"Mom, didn't you say there were French people in our family?" Beca nodded "But we've been in France, and you had a concert in Montréal not even a month ago, why don't we go back and try to find them mom? So we could reconnect?"

"We could" Beca nodded slowly "Let me think about it, okay? But in the meantime, you'll have to learn French." She added with a smirk.

"I can learn French and I'm gonna speak it better than you do!" Beth smiled.

"Oh" Beca side smiled and said with perfect French " _Tu te crois tu es très intelligent, uhm? On verra ça plus tard Elizabeth._ "

"Hey, that's cheating, I didn't understand a word!" Beth said smiling, and some laughed. Beca smiled with sufficiency.

"We'll see Elizabeth. We'll see." Beca said simply, and stood up "I'm gonna join my son with that nap" she said with a tiny smile, the first real smile Chloe had seen on her in days.

"Hey, I deserve a kiss for not jumping at you after that!" Chloe said suddenly, and then added lowering her voice with a pout "You know how sexy French is."

Beca turned and walked back, giving her a quick kiss.

"Happy?" Beca said with a tiny smile.

"Not truly, but it'll do. For now" Chloe said, and Beca left. Chloe smirked staring at her daughter "I want that magic of yours, what have you done to your mom?"

"Nothing" Beth shrugged, curving her lips into a tiny smirk while playing with the paper of a bottle of wine "She just needed a sticker to remind her of her very good marks." She said mysteriously.


	26. Chapter 26

Beca hadn't sleep that amazingly well in forever. Or at least, it was how it felt like. However, she still woke up early but very well rested and smiley, hearing the smell of just made pancakes. She carried Noah, who was still sleeping, but whom they preferred not to leave alone, and carried him to the kitchen, where Beca, her sisters, and George, already were, in their pajamas, waiting for George to make the pancakes.

"Good morning" Beca greeted with a smile, and Chloe turned around, and smiled at her.

"Good morning, but for real?" Chloe replied, kissing Noah's chubby cheek as the boy's head lied against Beca's shoulders, his mouth a bit opened, with a bit of saliva impregnating Beca's t-shirt. Then, Chloe kissed Beca on the lips, while stroking their son's cheek.

"Actually yes" Beca nodded "I slept like this one" she added looking down at Noah "I feel so much better now after a good night's sleep."

"Good" George smiled at her, and Chloe smiled hugging her while carefully supporting her cheek against Noah's back.

"Moms!" Micah came breathless.

"Micah, you aren't supposed to r…" Beca shut up when she looked at him, and saw he really was breathless.

"Micah what happens?" Chloe asked coming closer, frowning.

"It's Beth" Micah said, and his aunts came frowning, worried "I think she's having a quite big nightmare, but I can't wake her up, and she's gonna end up waking Kamara up."

"I have this" Chloe said quickly, when Beca was about to move "You have some food, alright? Be right back" Chloe ran upstairs, and Micah, who was already awake, shrugged and accepted a plate of pancakes one on his aunts offered him.

After a while, Micah had already gone to play when Chloe came downstairs, looking quite pissed off.

"Beca" she simply said, her arms crossing over her chest as she stood next to the table, interrupting the breakfast that was taking place. Now Chloe's parents and siblings in law were there. The children liked to sleep until late in summer "Give me a reason why I shouldn't start yelling right now at you, because you fucking put your foot in it deep this time." Beca felt the fear rise, and she looked cautiously at Charles, who gulped staring at her with a helpless look.

"Your whole family is… here? The kids are sleeping?" Beca suggested carefully, staring at Chloe. When she said Chloe was a lion, she meant she was for good and for bad.

"Rebeca Mitchell" Chloe snapped, and Beca could see her vein in the neck clearly, as Chloe's blood boiled. They never argued in front of people, except when they were too angry to even contain themselves "How is it possible" she started talking from lower, to higher every time "for a grown up mother, to be so, damn, thoughtless?!" now she was talking loud, although not yelling yet, and her arms fell on her sides.

"I don't know what…" Beca started.

"You told your six year old daughter!" Chloe snapped suddenly, now eyes shining with rage.

"What?" Beca asked bewildered.

"How in your little brain it occurred to you it was a great idea to give your daughter, a kid, a fucking great description on how her family died?!" she yelled, in anger "She had a fucking nightmare with that Beca, because of your fucking irresponsible mind!" she added pointing at Beca accusatorily.

"Wait, what? Beth dreamed with that?" Beca paled and stood up "I'm gonna talk to her…" but Chloe stopped her putting a hand on her sternum when Beca was about to walk beside her.

"No" Chloe said coldly. She was very rarely that mad, maybe twice in all their years of marriage "She's finally sleeping, after crying her eyes out for ten minutes." Chloe added. She wasn't yelling now, but her coldness and lower voice were scarier. Chloe breathed deeply to keep herself together.

"I'm sorry Chloe, I will talk with her when she wakes up, alright? She won't have any more nightmares with that Chloe, I swear. I'll fix this" Beca said looking down, and Chloe crossed her arms over her chest again.

"Yeah, how? Because you spent two weeks without sleeping, you that are an adult, how in your mind you thought your six year old, who has a pretty good imagination and innocence, would be capable of sleeping tonight after what you told her? Who in their mind would tell a six year old something like that Beca? are you fucking out of your mind?"

"I said I'm sorry Chloe, you're right, it was very foolish of me, I know I could've talked with her in a softer way, so she wouldn't have a nightmare, I know I could've been more delicate, I'm sorry. I don't know what was going on through my mind when I told her" Beca said embarrassedly. The others had continued eating, trying to give them some privacy "I didn't mean to cause her any pain, I swear. I'll fix this, I'll come up with something."

"Yeah, well I hope so" Chloe snapped "For your own good, you better fix this, because if that kid can't sleep anymore because of you, you'll be the one explaining the children's therapist how you traumatized our daughter." That said, she went to sit on the table, and asked her sister for some pancakes. Beca bit her lip and gave a cautious step towards the table "Oh, no young lady. You're going up to our bedroom, make sure Beth doesn't wake up crying again." Beca nodded slowly, and turned around, walking upstairs.

"That was frightening sis" Gwen commented.

"She deserves a true yelling session" Chloe muttered "How can she be so irresponsible?"

Beca slowly walked upstairs and went to Chloe's bedroom, feeling horrible inside. She lied next to Beth and stroke her hair tenderly. Beth didn't wake up until an hour later, but she did it calmly.

"Hey" Beca smiled at her when she saw her eyes open "How are you feeling?"

"Better" Beth smiled a bit "I slept good this time."

"Good" Beca nodded "Listen, Beth, I'm sorry I was so explicit yesterday. I just want you to know they won't suffer anymore, okay? And… it may seem very disgusting and scary, what I told you, but it's over, we won't go through that anymore, anybody will. And you were never there, it's only dreams. You tell them to fuck off when they upset you, okay? Close your eyes tight, in your dreams, and think about something happy?"

"Don't worry mom" Beth kissed her cheek "I'm okay. I'm gonna see if Kamara want to come with us for breakfast, okay?"

"Okay." Beca nodded.

"And mom?" Beth turned around when she reached the door "Is mamma too angry? She seemed upset earlier."

"She's only mad at me. I'll go try to fix it" Beca smiled at her, waving her hair before going downstairs and sitting beside Chloe, who was in the sofa with Noah playing on her lap, talking with Sophie "Elizabeth is okay" she said, and Chloe stared at her "She's fine, we talked and she'll be okay, because unlike me, she wasn't there, and her dreams aren't in such high definition, and are just dreams and not memories, and she knows how to make bad dreams go away pretty good, she slept perfectly well, and she says she's okay."

"Good" Chloe nodded without even looking at her.

"I apologized to her too, Chloe" Beca added "And I apologized to you too. But you're still angry, care to tell me what can I do?"

"Figure it out yourself, Mitchell, like I've had to do so many times" Chloe stared back at her sister again.

"What do you mean?" Beca asked frowning, knowing there was more to the story.

"You went to our six year old to tell her literally everything, you opened your heart to her, you exploded to her, and she helped you" Chloe said.

"Yes, I know, I'm such an stupid asshole and I did quite wrong, don't you think I don't feel bad about it?"

"I was here."

"What?"

"I was here" Chloe fixed her eyes on hers "I, your adult wife, was here for you every single day, all the time, like I've always been. You could've talked with me a thousand times Beca, you could've told me anything, and I would've helped you, but instead, you choose to go to our daughter, to a poor kid!" she snapped. Sophie softly slipped out of the room after taking Noah and sending Beca an encouraging thumbs up. Beca looked down "I was here! Seriously Beca, what do I have to do for you, because I don't know anymore! You're a fucking mystery, and I've tried for so many years to try and be here even when you didn't want me here, and you reject me seventy percent of the time, and it would be okay if you didn't have the genius idea of traumatizing our child!" now she was getting the true yelling "Do I have to kneel, to kiss your feet and beg you for you to fucking talk to me? For God's sakes, Beca!" she huffed.

"I'm so…"

"Stop saying you're sorry!" Chloe snapped "I've never met a person who had the need to apologize more in my entire life! I'm sick of it! I have a bellyful of your constant apologizes! Would it be so hard Beca, to just apologize one time, learn, and don't commit the same fucking mistake again? Instead, instead of being so sorry all the time, you could show you really are, and learn from your mistakes!" Chloe breathed deeply "I begged you for weeks Beca! you knew sooner or later you'll have to talk, because you needed to, why didn't you come to me! why, all the times I offered…"

"Is not that easy!" Beca interrupted raising her voice. She had watery eyes and was looking down at her lap.

"What?" Chloe asked bewildered.

"Is not that easy Chloe" Beca repeated "You know me, you know for me it's not easy at all to talk about my feelings, you can make it easier for me through the ages, not change me. You want to change me, but you can't, no matter for how long you try."

"I never said it had to be easy, I don't want to change you! I'm just saying I was there for you" Chloe replied "I know by myself sometimes it's hard to talk and that's what I asked you what, a couple hundred times?"

Beca choose to shut up and keep her eyes on the rings in her hands, that lied on her lap.

"That's it? You don't have anything else to say?" Beca kept her mouth shut and her face down, so she wouldn't see her watering eyes "Beca, don't ignore me."

"I'm not. I can only say sorry, but you don't want me to, so I better shut up." Beca muttered, and Chloe huffed loudly and left without saying another word. Beca went back to the bedroom, and fell asleep with wet cheeks again.

After lunch, the whole family got ready to go to the beach, Noah's first time in front of the big sea. Chloe and Beca coordinated themselves to get their children covered in sun cream, that fortunately wasn't as important with Kai, which relaxed them a lot, knowing their daughter had a black skin color that would protect her, but their other kiddos, and mostly the boys, that had Beca's pale skin, burned easily, just like their biological mother, so they had to cover them from forehead to toes, which the kids hated. Chloe wore a sundress over her bikini, and Beca a simple skirt and a t-shirt that belonged to her brother. Beca, as they reached the beach, thought this wasn't the way Noah's first time at the beach was supposed to be, with his mothers angry and sad. Chloe was still being distant and sharp, trying to find in her heart whatever she needed to forget about Beca's particularities, and Beca was embarrassed with herself, and sad. She rarely got angry at Chloe because, being honest, Chloe was too intelligent to make all the mistakes she did. Chloe was a super empathic person, so she would never make anything so bad.

Beca hadn't even thought of the possibility of having any trauma with the ocean until they reached the Atlantic cost, and she put her feet on the sand, with Noah against her hip while Chloe kept an eye on the rest of their clan. Beca suddenly looked up to the sea, that had always seem so amazing, marvelous, whole for her, and instead of the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean, she could only see the same darkness, the same water that had drowned her family, and almost herself and Jesse, the coldness, and almost taste the salt on her lips. It was like being there, she couldn't breathe again, and she had to breathe deeply a couple times before she dared to follow the group.

They sat far away from everybody at the beach, because they were twenty two and if they sat next to the others, they couldn't keep an eye on their children as much. Chloe and Beca accommodated their towels on the sad, along with their children's towels, and Chloe went with the children for a bath while Beca sat with Noah, covering him with sun cream because he was sleeping when they covered the others, and she had to do it know.

"Patience little kiddo, you'll get into the water soon" Beca calmed the boy, who was so excited playing with the sand, that would get attached to his skin because of the cream, and looking at the ocean. Beca was shaking and breathing deeply, without moving her eyes from her children in the water. Chloe and everybody else were there, she knew everybody was keeping an eye on the kids, and she shouldn't be scared, but she was scared beyond belief, and she was purposely taking her time with Noah. Finally she carried him to the shore, and when the cold water touched her toes, she quickly jumped back, feeling it three times colder, like how the water was in Portland. She was having flashbacks, and could literally see and feel it in her eyes "Chloe!" she yelled at Chloe, that was already keeping an eye on them to get the boy into the water "Come take Noah!" Chloe quickly swam back and walked to them with a grin and her arms towards Noah, who extended his towards her "He's covered enough."

"Perfect" Chloe's grin grew when Noah smiled excitedly at him "You're so brave like momma, don't afraid of water, uh? Are you coming?" Chloe snapped Beca out of her thoughts, and Beca quickly put her eyes off the water.

"I don't wanna get my t-shirt wet. It's Joseph's." Beca replied.

"Come on, leave it with the towels, trust me, I've been coming here since forever, nobody comes to this part because it's super far away from the parking lot" Chloe said "Come on Beca, it's the first beach day of Noah."

"I… uh…" Beca tried to think of a good excuse. Everybody knew she was like a dolphin in the sea, she liked it better that the pool, that she thought was _too boring_ , and she swam really well, and it was a really hot day. Chloe had a pleading look.

"Becs, let's not be mad anymore, okay? Look, I'm really sorry for what I told you, and for all the yelling. Please, you don't wanna miss this."

"I don't really want to bath today Chloe. I like this warmth, I'll lay on the towels for a bit" Beca said "Maybe later. It can't be too different from our other three first days at the beach anyway" her own words stabbed her, she knew every time was unique, and she wanted so badly to be there, she had been dreaming about it for months, they had been talking about it for months, and now she just couldn't, she wasn't so brave after all. It disappointed herself, and she knew Beth would be so disappointed, but she wasn't brave enough, and she couldn't do everything for her family this time. She felt like crying only for the thought of missing that important experience of her son, she never missed it with the rest. She wasn't surprised when Chloe looked so hurt "Have fun, will you, Noah?" she kissed the boy with her best fake smile "Be good, I love you." Beca quickly turned around, and lied on her towel, her face between her arms, trying to keep herself together.

She would've told Chloe what she was experiencing, but lately they hadn't seem to be in the same page, so she thought, why bother with somebody who won't understand? She spent half an hour sitting on her pillow, keeping an eye on her children like an eagle, but the warmth and the sun started to get her numb, and she fell asleep. She was having a nightmare again, seeing her hands into the water, against the window, but this time, her father was staring at her but not looking. He was dead. And she couldn't breathe. She opened her eyes and couldn't breathe, and she was in the water again, and she was cold. She could only see water, and she kicked, moved, tried to breathe, to come out, panicking quickly until her face reached the air out of the water, her whole body trembling and her coughs convulsing her. She head giggles.

"God Beca, I'm sorry but we didn't want you to miss all the fun" it was George. Next to him, was Chloe, also smiling, with Noah in her arms. The water reached them lower than the hips, but the second they saw Beca's panicked eyes, as the brunette hugged herself and kept trying to breathe without knowing how, trembling, feeling much colder that she actually was. She felt just like when she got herself out of the water in Portland. The salt in her mouth, the ache in her throat from the salt, the burn in her eyes, the mucus in her nose, the incredible coldness, and the inability to breathe.

The couple stared at her in shock for a second, realizing something was very wrong, and then Beca ran as fast as she could, feeling her panic rising unexpected levels, towards the sand. She head yells behind her, people yelling her name, but she didn't listen, she took her towel, put it around herself, shoved her feet into her flip-flops, and was about to storm out of there, when George, Chloe, and Sophie reached her.

"Beca, Beca I'm so sorry, we didn't think it would upset you so m…" George said. Chloe was also apologizing, but Beca interrupted them both, having recovered most of her breathing, and starting to go from panicked, to incredibly pissed off.

"That's the problem, that you didn't think!" Beca yelled with tears streaming down her eyes.

"Beca…" Chloe reached a hand towards her, with which Beca saw she had given Noah to the grandmother, but Beca stepped back.

"Don't" she said "Didn't it occur to any of you" she said yelling while she looked at the three of them, although Gwen and Charles were also approaching with some of the children, that stood back in the towels with Anna, Seth, Cormac and Hannah, while the other adults went to see what was going on "that I saw my family drown?" she was yelling "That ocean fucking traumatized me, you son of a bitch?!" she had never insulted any Beale, and the five other adults looked between astonished, and deeply sad, not having realized before. Chloe had tears in her eyes from her own angriness with herself, she should've realized, it was obvious, and now, Beca was more hysterics than any other time in their lives. Everybody had seen George mischievously approach Beca, and they did nothing, because Beca had always loved the ocean. Chloe then analyzed her wife, and saw she was exactly like that night, wet, cold, her own clothes glued to her skin, the same panic in her eyes "Do I have to describe you how the last time I got in there, was to see my father die in front of my eyes, you assholes?! Stay the hell away from me!"

"Beca, please" Chloe begged.

"You should've known! You were there!" Beca pierced her with her eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry, I'm so stupid, it was so stupid" Chloe tried to come closer, and Beca stepped back again "Beca please let me help you, you're panicking."

"Panicking? What do you fucking expect Chloe! You let him threw me back there, back into the water, the car, everything!"

Charles and Gwen had finally reached them, and they stood by the other siblings. Charles looked lovingly at Beca, and gave one step forward. She didn't turn her anger towards him, but gave a step back.

"Beca" he whispered with his deep voice "It's okay, you're here, you're with me. Can you breathe deeply for me?" he was approaching the situation like many with his own children and grandchildren before. Beca stared into his eyes, and took a long breath, hugging herself with the towel, still shaking from a cold that wasn't there. Charles gave another step towards her, and this time she didn't move "That's good. That's really good. It's okay to be upset, overwhelmed, it's okay" he talked only for her to listen, and the others stepped back, letting her father take care of the business in the familiar way they knew. Chloe had never been so mad at her brother, but she was even angrier with herself "Come Beca." he opened his arms. He was wearing a t-shirt, he had put on after the bath, and his ginger hair sprinkled with some white hair here and there, was wet and pulled back. She slowly walked forwards, hiccupped, and Charles gave another step forward, hugging her tightly with his big arms, wrapping the shorter woman in a tight, warm, protective embrace, as she cried heavily against her chest. Without undoing his wrap in the slightest, Charles turned a bit, and pierced his children with his blue eyes "George Charles Beale, you're forty two. A little bit old for this kind of crap, don't you think?" he nodded quickly, staring at himself "I'm not usually disappointed with my children, but you've crossed a really big line here George. And you" he stared at Chloe "I don't even know what to tell you. This is your damn wife Chloe, you know her better than I do, and you still didn't have the brains to keep your wife out of the damn water. Get your shit together, because your wife needs a wife, and not a teenage that can't understand the hell she's going through or at least try to." He managed to talk low and without losing his temper, so he wouldn't alter Beca more. He kept a hand protectively around the back of her head and an arm around her back. It was like the times he had had to hug one of his children just like this while scolding the others just like that. Anna had reached them.

"Everybody, back to you children" Anna said bossily, and her children started to move "Not you, you have a wife to take care of" she added putting a hand on Chloe's shoulder. The younger girl angrily rubbed her eyes and stared at Beca, who seemed to be shattering into dust in Charles' arms.

After what seemed like an eternity, Beca pulled back from Charles, who cleaned her cheeks with his thumbs, and smiled a bit looking at her.

"Better?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Thank you" she whispered "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be, family is here for these things. We'll leave you alone though, I believe those kids are kind of hungry" he smiled, she nodded with a tiny smile, and he went to Anna, both leaving. Anna before had given Chloe an extra towel for Beca. Beca hugged herself standing awkwardly contemplating her feet. Chloe took the towel in one hand and brought it closer to Beca.

"Cover me with it?" Beca asked with a hoarse whisper, and Chloe smiled and nodded, wrapping Beca with it. Beca looked up, and her sad eyes met another pair of sad eyes "I know you hate it, but I'm very sorry about everything. If I could redo so many things, I would, but…" Chloe shook her head.

"You don't have a reason to apologize baby. I was too harsh on you, I'm always too harsh on you, and you're always too amazing" Chloe smiled sadly "I'm sorry, I've been the worst wife ever."

"Forget about it?" Beca asked, and Chloe smiled, and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"When you're able to get into the ocean again, we'll count that as Noah's first day at the beach. This is just a warm up" Chloe whispered against her ear "Without hurries or anything. I love you." Beca smiled.

"I love you too. Actually… if Noah and you are up for it…" she looked nervously at the ocean behind Chloe "I'd like to try." Chloe pulled back and stared at Beca.

"Are you sure? You don't have to do it. We can come anytime" Chloe said.

"No, this is his first day. I wanna be part of it" Beca nodded convinced.

Five minutes later, Chloe, carrying Noah with one arm, and holding Beca's hand tightly with her free hand, entered the water again.

"Still good?" Chloe asked Beca, who stared at the water right beside her.

"Still good" Beca replied nodding.

"Good" Chloe squeezed her hand and they walked until the water reached their hips. There weren't many waves now.

"Give Noah to me" Beca asked, and Chloe saw the determination in her eyes, so she passed him the boy, who was already eagerly moving his legs and hands excited to be back "Okay. Hey Noah, do you wanna get into the water with me?"

"Momma!" he yelled smiling widely and bouncing, and his mothers grinned "Momma, momma!"

"Yey, momma!" Chloe smiled from behind him, rubbing his hair with a wet hand so he would get acclimatized, having his feet already wet. Beca giggled seeing his hair pointing all directions.

"Come , come" Beca crouched down a bit until the water reached her breasts, and Noah had the water by his shoulders, and he was kicking and bouncing smiling "You like it, don't you?" Beca grinned, and Chloe smiled at them, crouching down too.

"Noah, where's mamma?" Chloe said before going underwater, Noah looked around and frowned not seeing her.

"Where's mamma Noah? Where did she go?" Beca played along. Then Chloe pulled out of the water with a _buh!_ and Noah squealed. Beca giggled "You should've seen his face, I bet he peed on himself." Chloe laughed and farted on Noah's shoulder, making the boy squeal "Look Noah, a fish!" she pointed under them, as a couple tiny fishes swam between their legs under the water "Two tiny fishes!"

"F… f…" Noah tried.

"That's right, fishes!" Chloe encouraged them.

"Two fishes swimming between momma's legs, and mamma's legs" Beca added.

"F…!" Noah exclaimed, kicking with his legs and smiling "Fuck!" he yelled something, at the top of his lungs, and the mothers stared at each other before starting laughing hysterically.

"I swear I never taught him that!" Beca said afterward.

"I know you always control that filthy mouth around our cubs" Chloe cleaned tears of laugher from her cheeks "Noah, you can't say that word honey! It's an ugly word! Gaahg" she made a sound and a face like when you taste something disgusting, and Noah giggled.

"Momma, fuck!" he yelled.

"Oh my God, I'm such a bad influence" Beca giggled. Chloe was laughing until she suddenly stopped.

"Oh dear God, I know how he learned it" she said suddenly "When do we say that word a lot?"

"Well…" Beca stood thoughtful and then her mouth fell open "We always have sex without minding if he's in the crib." She muttered, and Chloe nodded.

"We better be careful, he's picking up words" Chloe smiled kissing Beca "I love you so much."

"Even though our kid only says momma and learned fuck before mamma?"

"God, that makes me love momma even more" Chloe kissed her again.

"Momma" Noah smiled again, his fists hitting the water.

"I love you too" Beca kissed Chloe "Both" she added, kissing Noah too "Noah, what do you say if I show you the insides of the ocean?" Chloe nodded, and put a hand on Noah's mouth and another pinching his tiny nose. The three of them got into the water, and Beca saw she wasn't panicking, and nodded at Chloe with a tiny smile. She smiled back, and they pulled up.

"Oh, what happened Noah, what was that?" Chloe said removing her hands and smiling at the boy, who seemed speechless, making his mothers laugh.

After cleaning the four kids, putting Noah to bed, and the others into their pajamas, Beca and Chloe finally stepped into Chloe's en suite shower. Chloe playfully started kissing Beca and putting her bikini away, while Beca went on with the game.

That night, after dinner, Beca and Chloe lied on their shared bed. Beca was having one of her weird breathings, and Chloe was squeezing her hand as they contemplated the ceiling.

"How are you doing?" Chloe asked in a whisper.

"I'm better" Beca replied "Keeping my mind busy helps."

"I'm here for you, you know? I will never turn my back on you again" Chloe stared at her, and Beca did too.

"We've been through hell and more" Beca said "I know we'll be okay. I'm not afraid, because I have you. You're my net." Beca said, and then kissed her softly.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Thirty five and one sick child.

Chloe woke extra early on Beca's thirty five, although most of her family was already up, but she knew Beca liked to stay more in bed when she could sleep and made sure to be awake earlier. She kissed her wife softly on her cheek, and then tucked Noah better, because like his mother, the boy slept having particular joy in making a mess with the sheets, before going downstairs.

"Good morning" she kissed some nephews, nieces, Beth, some of her siblings and her parents "Okay, today is Beca's birthday."

"Yey!" Beth grinned.

"Are we celebrating or pretending she isn't older?" Seth asked.

"No, she's fine about growing old" Chloe nodded "It's just… I expect her to be kind of sad" Chloe explained "So we are taking it simple." She explained, making a cappuccino for Beca and drawing a heart with the foam. She knew Beca didn't take long to get out of the bed once Chloe's warm body disappeared, it was like an alarm clock. In fact, in their recently turned eight years of marriage, Beca had woken up at least a hundred times at the same time Chloe had even though she didn't have to.

As if on cue, Beca came downstairs carrying Noah tightly and with a sleepy face.

"Happy birthday!" everybody said with smiley faces.

"Thanks" Beca smiled a bit, and Beth ran and hugged her legs, Beca stroking her hair "Thanks sweetheart."

"Happy birthday" Chloe kissed her and Noah, and handed her the coffee.

"Oh" Beca smiled seeing the coffee "Thanks love. I'm sorry to start the day with bad news, but I think Noah's sick." She commented, accepting some toasts from Anna. Chloe frowned and stared at Noah. The kid wasn't as smiley as usual, had a thumb in his mouth, and his cheek against Beca's shoulder, and his eyes were closer than open "He was awake and making upset little noises."

"Yeah, he looks sick" Chloe kissed his forehead "And he's warm. Oh, are you getting sick on your momma's birthday?"

"Momma" he whispered sleepy despite having his thumb into his mouth, and his moms smiled a bit.

"He's also a bit moody because he has to take a baby bottle for breakfast. He just discovered my breasts finally emptied, which I'm particularly surprised it hasn't happened until now, with how much this one eats." Beca added giving Chloe the baby bottle she was carrying with her other hand. Anna took it and smiled starting to get it ready.

"Poor boy, he woke up with bad luck today" Emma, Chloe's niece who was Addie's age, commented looking at the baby.

"Yeah right?" Chloe stroke his little head "It's weird he isn't crying."

"I think he hasn't slept well and it's too tired to cry" Beca replied, and when Anna had the baby bottle ready, Beca sat Noah on her legs, with his tiny legs falling from the side of hers, and his cheek against her chest, hugging him close with one arm and bottle-feeding him with the other. Noah didn't even tried to argue, he simply accepted that was his breakfast.

Despite Noah being sick, Chloe still managed to make Beca's day. She ordered thirty five red roses, she prepared her a bubble bath, she massaged her feet, she did everything she could for her. After lunch, Noah started crying, so Chloe hugged him close and went to the bedroom, where Beca had gone to dress up, having told by Chloe they were having dinner alone at a restaurant.

"You ready?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, you?" Beca replied.

"Yes" Chloe smiled "You're so stunning" Beca smiled a bit and then looked at Noah, who wasn't crying anymore but was still moody and a bit sick.

"I feel bad leaving him here sick anyway" Beca said.

"Everybody is here for him" Chloe said "We need some time for ourselves, reconnect.

"I know baby, but he's just feeling poorly" Beca said. Chloe smiled a bit.

"Okay, we're taking him." Chloe nodded, and Beca grinned kissing her and then their little guy.

That night, Chloe took Beca and Noah, who had fallen asleep, to the restaurant where she had made reservations. Noah was tucked in his stroller, lying there asleep with a couple blankets and his favorite teddy bear, that was a gift from the other Mitchells, and his mothers kept them as close as possible to them, as they held hands over the table.

"This place looks nice" Beca commented, blushing a little.

"You look better" Chloe leaned to kiss her over the table.

"Ladies" the waiter came to bring them the desserts after the dinner, chocolate pudding that they actually ended up giving to each others' mouths.

"I've got something for you" Chloe said giving her another peek on the lips and checked that Noah was fast asleep.

"More? Chlo, this is too much" Beca smiled "You've been amazing today and got my head out of my worries for a moment and…" Chloe held a letter for her.

"You always write me such beautiful things… and I wanted you to have a little something too."

Beca smiled and opened the letter.

 _Dear Beca:_

 _I know today is meant to be quite a sad day instead of the so wished Happy Birthday, because the only gift you could ever want more than anything else, is the only one not even all of our money could ever buy. There is nothing in the world I could want more than to bring that light back to their home in your eyes, and give you at least one more day with all the ones you lost, so you could at least try to say goodbye, or to have some kind of comforting goodbye, instead of having them be ripped away from your life, but unfortunately, I can't._

 _The day we got married, eight years ago, your father and your sister took a moment to talk to me in private before the ceremony. Your sister, from her part, told me that you were the only sister she was ever going to have, but that she would accept me too if I made sure you smiled at least one time every day for the rest of our lives. I haven't done that every day, but I trust that at least I made you feel loved every day. Some hours later, your father came alone, and he told me that you would always be his little girl, and that if I ever hurt you, he would find me. He told me that he couldn't take care of you forever, but that he trusted me to do that for him. I swore him I would, that's probably why I get so stubborn when you don't like my excessive overprotection._

 _Nine years ago, the day I saw you cry in that police station in LA, I swore to myself that there was no way in hell I was letting you cry like that alone ever again, and that no matter how hurt you were, I would never turn my back on you, and I would do my best to make you feel better, even when it seemed impossible. The day we married, I knew I compromised to a life of joys but also multiple times of sadness, because parents die, siblings die, and other people die too, sometimes, but I knew I would be okay because you'd be there. I know I have disappointed us both a lot lately, but I swear to you, next birthday, you won't feel as crappy, because I will spend this entire year doing the impossible to make you laugh, and holding you tight when you can't, until you don't need me to smile._

 _I will always love you Rebeca Mitchell. Even when I'm angry with you. You're my one and only._

 _Always._

 _Chloe._

Beca muffled a sob covering her face with her hands, and Chloe stood up and approached her, kneeling next to her, and motioning for Beca to hug her, which she did, although she was still sitting so she looked taller than Chloe. Beca threw her arms around Chloe's neck and cried on her shoulder while Chloe stroke her back and kissed the side of her face. Chloe moved her eyes towards Noah, to make sure he was still sleeping, and saw he was awake but quiet, and had his teddy reindeer's ear into his mouth, because he had a couple new teeth coming up and it was bothering him.

"You're the love of my life. You're everything, everything I have. You know that, right?" Beca sobbed and Chloe nodded "I can't lose you too. I can't lose you."

"You won't. Hey" Chloe took Beca's cheeks between her hands, pressing their foreheads together and giving her a peek on the lips "You won't lose me. I'm not going anywhere."

"You're my everything" Beca whispered "I don't have parents. I don't have siblings, my only uncle hasn't spoken to me since our wedding..."

"You have me" Chloe stated, with a tiny smile, cleaning Beca's tears with her thumbs. Beca sniffled "You have me, you have our children. We are your family. You have an amazing family in law who loves you, so, so very much, and that would do anything for you, just like us. And a bunch of friends who are more like your siblings, a bunch of friends who wouldn't think twice before giving you anything you needed. And you won't shut them out, because if one day something happens to me" Beca started shaking her head and Chloe kept it still with her hands and forehead, with a tiny smile "Sh… If anything ever happens to me, you won't be alone either. All of them will be there, and I want you to have them. And to have me, for as long as we can have each other, and you will take care of always having that big group of people, take care of them, and they will never leave you. And we will do whatever it takes to keep you with us too. I'm not going anywhere Beca, for now, I'm not going anywhere, and neither are them. Our children. The others. We're all here for you. We all love you."

"I'm not afraid of death Chlo" Beca sniffled "But you can't let it take you before me, because I won't know what to do with myself. I don't wanna grow old all alone. Even if everybody was here, how am I supposed to wake up anymore without you?"

"You won't grow old alone baby. Why are we talking like this Bec? It's not like I just told you I have cancer or anything. We don't have to worry about death. Not for a long time, okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise" Chloe kissed Beca again, and Beca took her hands, guiding her to sit on her lap, and hugging her tight. Chloe hugged Beca's head tight, stroking her hair, and kissing her forehead.

After a long time holding each other like that and in silence, Noah started groaning and sobbing, and they, who were calmer now, stood up and went to him.

"Are you feeling bad again baby-boh?" Chloe said softly, bouncing Noah on her chest softly. Beca stroke his head and kissed his cheek.

"I'll go pay, you go to the car and get putting him in his chair" Beca said. Chloe nodded, and they kissed. Beca kissed Noah too, and then went to find the waiter. After paying him, she went to the parking lot and looked for her car between the many cars. She frowned when she saw one of the windows a bit beaten, like if something hit it but didn't break it enough to pass through it, and walked faster towards the car "Chloe?!" she yelled as she ran to the car. When she reached her car, gasped, seeing Chloe lying on the ground, unconscious, Noah wasn't around and his stroller only contained his blanket and his teddy reindeer. Beca felt like she was about to have a heart attack "Chloe!" she yelled, and looked around, not seeing anybody she could ask. It had been ten minutes, if she ran, she could still find Noah, but she couldn't leave Chloe there. "Chloe" she kneeled next to her, and saw she still had a pulse, and she only had a wound in her temple, probably from crashing against the car's window, and her hands looked like she had punched someone hard "Hang in there baby, I'm gonna find him." She quickly called 911 informing of the situation, and while she did this, she ran around the parking lot, asking people, but nobody saw anything, and there were barely people there. She gave the 911 people the exact location of Chloe, and went to find the restaurant guys, who quickly ran around trying to find Noah with him "He's just a year old, I have to find him!" she yelled to the restaurant's guard, tears streaming down her cheeks.

When police and ambulances came, they did an exhaustive search for Noah around the parking, the restaurant, and the surroundings, even clients were looking for the baby, while the doctors attended Chloe, and they looked even under cars, inside –through the windows- bathrooms, everything was registered twice. But whoever kidnapped Noah wasn't there anymore, and neither was the boy. There was a great deployment of police forces, even military ones, helicopters, motorbikes, cars, everybody was looking for the sick one year old son of music producer Beca Mitchell, asking in gas stations, asking from TV and radio, that early morning, Tampa did everything but going to sleep, in shock for that weird and uncommon event. Even the borders of the city were controlled by police, cameras being reviewed, the kid had to be found. Also, Beca didn't know how sick Noah could be, they were going to take him to the doctor the following day in case he was still sick, but in that moment she knew nothing about how he could be. Beca sent photos, written descriptions, told everybody the words he knew, that he couldn't even walk without help, that he was teething and he would be crying so hard, that he couldn't fall asleep without his teddy reindeer. She went around the city during hours, after calling Sophie Beale and let her know what happened and to go to the hospital and be with Chloe. Beca was too anguished to fall asleep, to breathe, to calm down, so she just keep running around the city, stopping pedestrians, taxi drivers, bus drivers, everybody, showing his picture, asking. When the sun rose, she was still doing that, even if her feet hurt and she didn't know the city. Her body was aching to sit down and rest, but she couldn't, she couldn't give up, she couldn't trust that others would find him, after all, her faith in public forces was quite low, she needed to find him and she knew he was crying, and feeling horrible, and her baby needed her and she just couldn't stop trying. She wouldn't even think in the possibility of him being death. After eleven hours searching for him, and having all the city looking for him, police sirens being heard here and there constantly, together with helicopters, she didn't have more tears, and barely the energy to drag her feet, even with the fancy heels she had been wearing until she realized she had injuries in her feet from running in heels, and decided she was better off barefoot, and she had her long coat properly tied trying not to freeze when it was one or two am and she was wearing a dress under it, not warm pants and a warm t-shirt. It was now ten in the morning, and she felt like fainting, her voice a bare whisper when she stopped someone with little energy let, showing her phone, a picture of Noah, making questions with her red eyes and tired face.

Then, she decided to stop someone to ask where the hospital where she had been told Chloe had gone was, and she decided to walk towards it, even if it was far away, because if she walked, she would be able to ask while walking for Noah some more.

"Beca" Chloe was sitting on a hospital bed, Gwen by her side, and tears immediately came to her eyes when she saw Beca. The younger women threw her heels aside, and sat on the bed, hugging Chloe, who hugged her back. Both of them had cried too much to have the energy to do it anymore "Beca" Chloe whispered again.

"I'm here" Beca whispered "I'm gonna find him. I swear to God I'll find him."

"I know" Chloe pulled back to look at her "I'm so sorry, I tried… I told the police all I know, I could describe the kidnapper, at least the one who I fought with. I think there could be more. Beca, I'm so sorry, I should've…"

"Stop, this isn't your fault. Stop" Beca kissed her "How are you?" she added, realizing Chloe had a small bandage on her temple.

"I'm okay, the doctor only wants to keep me here today to make sure everything's fine. It's just a commotion."

"Okay." Beca looked around "Where is everybody? Our children?"

"They all are running like crazy around the city and the highroads and everywhere looking for Noah. George even printed a couple hundreds of his picture so they could leave them everywhere. The children wanted to help too, so they all left" Gwen explained. Why she was there was quite obvious, she was seven months pregnant. Beca nodded.

"I should go and keep trying to find Noah" Beca said starting to stand up, but Chloe pulled down.

"You need to rest Beca, or you'll pass out. You have been out all night." Chloe said. Beca shook her head.

"I can't rest Chloe, my eyes can't close knowing he's out there sick and alone."

"Beca…"

"I will find him. Give me your keys, I'll go home, I'll change into something more

comfortable and take a coffee, and I'll find him before night comes again."

Beca did as she promised and spent the whole day around the city. She was happy to see a lot of people looking for him too, showing his picture, and she also saw his picture around a lot. But when the night came, she hadn't found him, so she went back to the hospital. Chloe was being released, so they went back home, tried to sleep, unsuccessfully, and first hour in the morning, the whole family organized to keep looking for him, Gwen staying at home with Kamara, Parker, Owen and Samuel, that were the youngest children, while the others insisted in going with the adults and find their cousin. They located the entirety of Tampa, they located woods, towns around it, but when the night came, they went back home empty handed again.

"Where is he?" Chloe voiced out, later that night, as the adults sat sleepless in the living room.

"We'll find him Chloe" George stated.

"But, we've looked everywhere" Chloe replied.

"He can't vanish. He has to be somewhere" Beca said.

"What if… what if he's locked out in some room… or… or… what if they buried him?" Chloe sobbed, and Beca stared at her horrified.

"Chloe… don't fucking think that way okay? Nobody has buried our son alive!" Beca sobbed "He must be in some house… I bet the kidnappers will contact us soon. They probably just want the money, they'll let him go."

"Let's not lose our shit okay?" Gwen asked the group "We need cold minds, we will find him, I mean, everybody is looking for him day and night."

Then, Beca's call tone broke the silence they had fallen on.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Eyes on you.

"Beca Mitchell" Beca said pressing the phone against her ear "Hey officer. Really? Yes sir, yes, yes, thank you, I'll be there" she hung up "They think they found him, a neighbor alerted them they heard something like baby cries in another flat that was supposed to be empty, they told me I could go, but only me because they have to get in there and it's dangerous, but if it's him, they want one of us to be there to hold him."

"Okay" Chloe nodded "What are you waiting for? Go!"

Beca found a police car parking next to the house right when she was coming out, and apparently the cop came to pick her up, so she went with him. They were soon joined by ten other cops equipped like if it was for a war. They walked a few streets in silence, and then burst into a flat, Beca being ordered to stay behind them. After a bunch of screams and shoots, Beca heard Noah's cries, she would never confuse them, not even with four children.

"Noah!" she whispered, standing in a dark, unknown entryway with two cops that had bulletproof vests and really big guns, and motioned for her to shut up.

"Clear!" an officer shouted, and they turned the lights on and relaxed. Beca ran around the house, guiding by the cries, until she arrived the living room. There were a woman and two men, one of them Beca thought it could be who Chloe had described everyone a thousand times, lying dead on the floor, and an officer was holding Noah, taking him from a mattress that had been thrown in the living room.

"Is this little one yours?" the officer, a woman, asked her holding Noah. Beca ran towards them and hold the baby while crying along with her son, nodding as she recognized him.

Noah was wearing the same clothes they left him in, his diapers needed a change, he had a fever, his stomach growled, and he was crying his soul out, but otherwise, he was fine. Beca held him tight against her chest, and sat crying with him until a cop took them to the hospital. While Noah was being checked, feed and cleaned by some nurses and doctors, Beca called Chloe to let her know he was fine, and that they would be home soon. Beca didn't keep her eyes off Noah not ever for a second.

"He has a stomach bug" a doctor told her, handing Beca the baby, who was know much calmer, and very tired "I gave him this syrup for that, he should take it every eight hours" she smiled handing Beca a plastic bag with the syrup inside "We ran a blood test, he's fine. Not hungry anymore, and all cleaned" the doctor caressed Noah's head, that was supported on Beca's shoulder, and Beca grinned happily, kissing Noah's head while hugging him tightly "He's good to go, he's probably drained and would love to fall asleep."

"Yeah, his mamma has his teddy reindeer so he can sleep" Beca kissed the baby again "Oh, I missed you so much Noah, I'm never keeping my eyes off you anymore. I'm so sorry we lost you, it won't happen again, I swear." Beca kissed him again, and rocked him softly. His eyes were half closed but Beca knew he wouldn't sleep without his teddy reindeer.

A police officer took her back home, and the moment she opened the door, Chloe was there, tears in her eyes when she spotted Noah. Beca smiled giving him to her.

"Give him is reindeer, he needs to sleep. He's fine Chlo, it's just a stomach bug, the doc gave us some syrup to give him" Beca explained while Chloe hugged the baby tightly to her chest, kissing him, telling him how much she loved him, and crying.

Ten minutes later, Noah was fast asleep between Chloe's arms, wrapped in his favorite blanket and with his reindeer close, as his moms sat one beside the other on the sofa, surrounded by his siblings, and the rest of the family stayed close.

"He's okay" Chloe whispered looking from Noah to Beca, who had an arm around them, and kissed her wife on the cheek.

"He's okay" Beca repeated smiling down at the boy. He slept contently, his face relaxed and dry, his tiny fists holding his reindeer, a thumb still in his mouth.

That night, Beca and Chloe slept like babies, with Noah sleeping between them. Two days later, they decided it was time to go back home.

"You want it? You want it?" Beca was talking silly to Noah, both of them sitting on the puzzle carped in their living room, as Noah tried to catch his reindeer, that Beca had. Noah was laughing, and his siblings were sitting around. Noah loved playing cars with Micah, and Beth tried to teach him some dance moves, and Kamara the names of all the animals of her animal book. They were just doing that, chilling out, while Chloe made lunch, and laughs filled the house. The siblings loved their youngest brother's stupidity and silliness as much as their mothers. Then, the bell rang, and Beth ran to the door.

"It's Aunt Aubrey!" she yelled from the door a minute later, and Chloe interrupted her tasks to go to the entry. She grinned seeing Beth pick Aubrey's jacket and put it on the hanger, and Chloe hugged Aubrey tight, careful with not stumbling with Aubrey's suitcase.

"What are you doing here? And all alone?" Chloe asked while they hugged tightly.

"Surprise!" Aubrey giggled, and kissed her on the cheek "What happened to you?" she asked, seeing a small scar on Chloe's temple, that was fading daily.

"Oh, you so need to be updated" Beth joked walking next to them to the living room. Aubrey laughed at that, nodding, and soon Micah and Kamara ran to her.

"Aunty Aubrey!" the children yelled running towards her, and Aubrey hugged them both at once "What are you doing here? And our cousins?"

"Hello sweet pies" Aubrey smiled kissing their cheeks multiple times "Your cousins and uncle Jesse are at his family's house, I came in representation of the family. We were visiting there" she explained standing up to hug Beca and kiss her cheek, and then leaned to kiss Noah's cheek with a grin, and to pet _Billie_ , who was jumping against her legs "We've been visiting Jesse's family for over two weeks or so, we barely get to see them, and the children missed them so much. We were so busy that we forgot what day we were in, and the other day my alarm remind me of someone's birthday, happy birthday by the way" she added smiling at Beca, who nodded with a grin "so we thought somebody had to come here in representation, and give you our gift, that it's in my suitcase. Beth honey, can you get it for me? it's a bag in the front pocket" the girl ran there and Aubrey looked at the mothers "So how's everything going?"

"Better" Chloe smiled.

"Someone kidnapped Noah" Kai said and Aubrey paled "But it was only for a little bit, then police found him."

"Yes, and now he's safe with us again" Micah smiled.

"Are you kidding me?" Aubrey stared at Noah putting a hand lovingly on his back and interrogating Beca with her eyes.

"On my birthday actually" Beca nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah, we've been in Tampa for some days" Chloe explained "We just came back a couple days ago. So, how's the family?"

"They are pretty good… well, Jesse spent some days quite sick after we came back from Maine but… guys seriously you can't pop a bomb like that and expect me to not be in shock" Aubrey commented. Right then Beth came back with a plastic bag and gave it to Aubrey "Thanks hon. Yes this would be it" she handed Beca a small package wrapped in a colorful envelope.

"Thanks" Beca smiled, and took it while giving Aubrey the baby so she could open it. Noah smiled at his aunt and played with her blonde curls. Beca opened the box, Chloe approaching with curiosity, and smiled getting a pair of luxurious earrings out "Aw, they are very pretty. Thank you."

"Oh, they're so cute, look, they go with your eyes" Chloe added smiling.

"We thought the same thing" Aubrey added, bouncing Noah on her hip.

"Aunty Aubrey, would you play with us on the _Play Box_?" Micah asked hugging Aubrey's legs.

"Yeah, sure" Aubrey smiled revolving his brown hair, just like Beca's but shorter.

"I'm gonna finish lunch. Will we be counting with your awesomeness for a few days?" Chloe asked slapping Aubrey's ass playfully with a smirk.

"Yeah, sure, a week?" Aubrey suggested.

"All you want" Chloe smiled and went to the kitchen.

"Well I should be getting showered and dressed" Beca was still wearing her pajamas "Children, don't kill your aunty while I'm gone" she added looking at the clan with a side smile.

Beca got clothes ready folded on top of the toilet of their en suite bathroom, and, already nude, got into the shower. She was clearing her hair from the shampoo under the stream, with her eyes closed, when she suddenly saw inside her eyelids the image of her dad punching his window with his fists, which Beca was doing too in the other side, and shouting _Beca, save Addie! Beca! Addie!_ One time after the other. Her breath accelerated and her hands supported on the wall in front of her, her fists closing.

"It's just a flashback" she muttered, trying to hear herself over the noise her dad was making "it's over. It's okay." Her eyes shoot open. She wasn't underwater. She could breath. She took a long breath in, and turned the water off, getting into a towel and out of the shower. She had already spent too long in it.

She dressed up quickly and went to the master bedroom, looking around. _I'm not there anymore. I'm not underwater._ But still, she felt underwater, she couldn't help it. She breathed deeply again, and walked towards the large bookshelf in front of her. In front of a _Pablo Neruda,_ next to a framed photograph of Beca and Chloe in the altar on their wedding day, she saw a framed photograph of her parents on their wedding day. They were so young, and so in love, and Beca couldn't help but wonder if they, like them, got married thinking they would always be together, have a family, be in love, forever, and grow old until they died in their sleep with more than a hundred years old, and several great-grandchildren. She wondered if she, like them, would end up suffering a horrible, cruel death, too young to even see her children get married. There was a knock against the door, that opened a bit, showing little Kamara. Beca smiled softly at the third of her gobbling gang.

"Yes sweetie?" Beca asked.

"Mamma asks if we can start eating. We're hungry" Kamara said, and Beca nodded.

"Yes, tell mamma I'll be down in a moment, I got a phone call to make. Get starting honey, don't worry about me" Beca smiled encouragingly at her, and Kamara grinned, closing the door after exiting the room.

Beca walked quickly towards her cell phone, that lied on the bed, and looked through the contacts, until she found Edgar Conrad.

"Edgar, hi, sorry to bother you, I had a missing call from you" Beca said. She nodded, and breathed deeply "I'd love to. Thanks, I'll be there."

She hung up, shoved her cell into her pocket, and quickly walked downstairs. Everybody was already having lunch, Chloe trying to shove some porridge into Noah's mouth while the boy sat on his high chair.

"Sorry" Beca said sitting on the empty chair beside Beth. Chloe was in front of her, sitting next to Aubrey, who was between Chloe and Micah. In front of Micah was Kamara, and Beth sat between her sister and her other mother. Noah was at the head of the table between his mothers "Is the midget eating or not?"

"Well, he sure prefers your milk than anything else" Chloe smirked when she got Noah to start eating, reluctantly, on his own, and she looked at Beca "Didn't have time to dry your hair hon?"

"Yeah, I just decided not to… I just put conditioner on, the dryer would left it all messy again" Beca started eating "So, Aubrey, you said Jesse has been sick? Is he okay now?"

"Yeah, he's perfectly fine now. Super happy to be with the family" Aubrey replied with a tiny smile "This is delicious Chloe, seriously" Aubrey commented pointing to the food with her fork.

"Thanks" Chloe smiled, and Beca smiled at her wife too.

"Aunt Aubrey?" Beth asked, and Aubrey stared tenderly at her "Do you believe in life after death?" Aubrey's mouth formed a tiny _o_.

"Beth honey, those questions aren't easy to answer" Chloe said with a sweet smile. Beth eyes went from her to Aubrey again.

"I believe it could be possible to reincarnate in another living being after our deaths, without any memory of the life we used to have" Aubrey replied and Beth nodded in understanding.

"So, would you say it is possible that my grandparents are… maybe happy butterflies now, in a happy family of butterflies, flying freely without problems or memories of being my grandparents?" Beth asked. Chloe stared at her seriously, and Beca chocked with her beer and coughed to get it out.

"Beth…" Aubrey's eyes went from Beca, who had turned red from coughing and was now more recovered, to Beth, who stared serious at her "It… maybe, honey, I don't know for sure. Nobody knows about what happens after death, but everybody has been wondering about that since forever" Beth's eyes went down "But I do know for sure that wherever they are, and whatever they are now, they are safe and protected from all harm." Beth nodded a bit, and Beca pulled an arm around her shoulders.

"Baby, you don't have to worry about them. Any of them." Beca said sweetly.

"How are you so sure?" Beth asked "For all we know, their souls could be around without being able to move on, or suffering, or lost. What if they can't find a home anymore?"

"Because Beth, their parents are gone too. And many of their family members, and I'm sure they showed them the way home. I'm sure they took care of them, and made sure they knew what to do and where to go."

"Are you sure?" Beth asked, and Beca nodded.

"You know what my mom told me when my grandparents died?" Beca said, and Beth looked questioningly "She told me that whenever I missed them, I just had to go back to the memories I had with them, and the things they taught me. Those things are never going to fade away."

"But momma, I have very little of them. Noah won't even remember a thing" Beth replied, and Beca nodded.

"I know sweetie, I know. Well, at least we have pics and videos, right? And we can always talk about them if that helps you feel them any closer. I'm sorry sweetie, if I could, you know I'll give anything to bring them back, but there's no way, they're just gone" Beca shrugged sadly and Beth nodded.

"I know momma" she looked at her plate, that only had a bit of food left "Can I go play? I'm not hungry anymore."

"Yes, you can go. Leave the plate in the kitchen please" Beca contemplated her eldest sadly with concern and Beth took her plate to the kitchen and left upstairs without saying another word.

"Can we go to?" Kai and Micah showed empty plates.

"Yeah, plates in the kitchen" Chloe nodded with a tiny smile and the children ran. When Micah was about to run upstairs, Beca stopped him.

"Micah!" the boy stopped and looked back, and Beca motioned for him to come closer, which he did "Could you keep an eye on your older sister for me buddy? Just give me a call if something seems too weird, okay?" the boy nodded and Beca smiled at him, so he ran upstairs again.

"Poor kiddos, they're too young" Aubrey commented. The adults had been so attentive to the children that had almost forgotten about their food, and in the meantime, Noah had sent his porridge all over his face, so Chloe was cleaning it with certain unease "And Beth is always the cheeriest. Was she that close to them?" she asked looking at the other woman, who nodded.

"Beth had a very good relationship even with Sheila, which I never got to do. Must be Beale's DNA running through her veins." Beca commented "And her and my dad were as thick as thieves. Well, my dad always spoiled the kids a lot because he spent his life trying to make up for leaving me behind although it wasn't his fault and he knew he didn't have to… anyway, he spoiled them all, but with Beth, she came first, so six years of spoiling."

"They were also very alike, for not being genetically related" Chloe commented, and Beca nodded "God, and her birthday is right around the corner."

"Talking about her birthday" Beca started "My father asked me for permission to give her her own guitar for her birthday next year, he was planning on teaching her. I don't think he bought it because he told me that when we were touring in Switzerland, but when I go to Atlanta to get everything in order, I'll look for it just in case. She can always be taught by you." She drank from her beer, and Chloe nodded.

"Yeah, it would be nice if she still could have his present, even if he can't teach her anymore" Chloe commented.

"Maybe we could give her a nice party and spoil her a lot" Aubrey suggested.

"Yeah, maybe that could give her a smile at least" Chloe shrugged.

"Maybe we should get a children therapist to speak to them once per week" Beca suggested. Chloe stared at her in silence for a moment, and then nodded.

"I think so" Chloe accepted "If it shocks us, I can't imagine them. They just seem so normal on the outside."

"Yeah, well, this one" Beca pointed with the glass of beer she held on her hand towards Noah, who kept eating his porridge in silence "will probably forget about it and them in less than half a year, or believe it was a weird dream. Kai's three, she probably doesn't understand a thing, so the help would be welcomed. And Micah and Beth definitely need it, so we should definitely hire someone good. This things are the kind of things that one doesn't know it's carrying until it's a criminal or a depressive teenager."

"Talking about therapists" Aubrey started gulping her food "Are you still going to yours?"

"I dropped mine so long I go I don't even remember" Chloe replied "But I think I can keep going without her for now, I think I'm pretty good considering." Beca nodded slowly.

"I dropped mine a couple months ago, but I called him recently" Beca replied "Because I'm still having trouble sleeping, less since I spoke to Beth, an amazing little psychologist but unfortunately still a kid, but I'm still sleeping weird and now it's okay because it's holidays and I can always get up late, but soon I'll be a zombie. Anyway, he told me he isn't in the country for now, but he'll be back around the end of September."

"Can't you just find someone else in the meantime?" Chloe asked.

"No, you know it's crazy hard to find someone good, let alone someone good and trustworthy. Edgar has known me for ten years, if he can't help, nobody can Chlo."

That afternoon, they decided to take the kids out to the park, so they could get some air. The three adults were sitting by the sand that covered the whole playground ground in the enclosed children zone of the park, while Noah was playing there, and the others were running around the little kind of castle that was for the children to play in it and had little bridges, sledges and stuff.

"Look how happy he is" Aubrey grinned seeing Noah smiling while patting the sand.

"Yeah, let's see who removes the sand off him later" Beca joked, and looked up to watch the other children. Kamara was with a friend from kindergarten on the sledges, Noah was laughing with some other children, who apparently had invited him to play the ball with them, and Beth was talking with some girl she probably knew from school. Everything in order.

"The others seem happy too" Chloe commented, she was also keeping an eye on the others. She turned her attention to Noah in the perfect moment to avoid him getting sand into his eyes.

"Noah, you're too cute for humanity" Beca grinned taking a picture of Noah with her phone, and then, she started taking some pics of her other kids as they played not too far away. Their six eyes divided pretty well from watching Noah to watching the others, Aubrey having been updated with the latest events and all of them too careful with not losing another kid to avoid the tick of looking up and down constantly and let their eyes go from one kid to another. Beca was just smiling at a picture she had just taken of Beth, who was still chatting with a girl and the girl's mother, who had just appeared in the picture, when she saw the mother push Beth with that force, Beth fell on her back "What the hell?!" Beca stormed to them, Beth was crying on the floor, the mother looked a bit shocked, and her kid was bewildered "Beth, Beth are you okay? Come honey… shh… it's alright, momma's gonna fix this" she hugged Beth tightly, and Chloe and Aubrey came running, Aubrey carrying Noah. Everybody had surrounded them to see what the commotion was about "Chloe, take Beth" she asked, and Chloe took Beth up in her arms.

"What the fuck do you thing you were doing?" Chloe yelled at the other mother, and tightened her hug, kissing Beth's temple while the girl cried. Beca stood next to them, her eyes piercing the other women's eyes with a killing gaze. Aubrey had, in the meantime, gestured for the other children to come, and stood a bit behind Chloe carrying Noah and with Micah and Kamara standing bewildered by her side. The woman that had pushed Beth had recovered herself and was staring at the Mitchells like if they were overreacting.

"My wife asked you a question" Beca snapped stepping forward with her fists clenched but falling on her sides, her patience ending quickly seeing she wouldn't reply. Beth in the meantime had calmed down and was now hugging Chloe standing beside her, while looking at the woman that pushed her with anger.

"Chill, I didn't pushed her on purpose. I was giving her a friendly push, and I didn't even give her hard, she fell to call attention. Kids with ADD do it, you know?" she said. Chloe's frown deepened, but before she could say anything, Beca was done with it.

"What are you insinuating?" Beca snapped, and the other women shrugged like if it was clear "That's it. I won't allow… take that back right now" she demanded firmly pointing at her accusatorily.

"I won't, it's true. She was withdrawing my child from playing just because her parents wouldn't pay attention to her. She has AD…" before she could even finish the sentence, Beca's left fist had crashed against her cheek strongly. The woman's child looked shocked, the Mitchell children raised their eyebrows and formed _o_ with their mouths, Micah even grinned, and Beth smiled. Chloe and Aubrey looked surprised, Aubrey a bit scared, but said nothing. Noah was too busy playing with Aubrey's blonde waves to pay attention to anything else. The woman Beca had punched, stumbled with her feet, and fell on her ass, looking bewildered.

"Don't you dare to talk bullshit about my family ever again, you filthy old hag" Beca said through grilled teeth, and stepped forward until she was right in front of the woman "And if you ever touch one of my children ever again, I'll make sure to break your hand so bad, not the best surgeons will be able to give it any use ever again. Have fun explaining that bruise to your family." She turned around, breathed deeply while stretching her left hand's fingers a little, and walked fast to her family "Let's go home, we can have a pool party or something."

"Yeah" Chloe nodded with a little side smile she was trying quite hard to conceal. She looked at the other woman, who was now standing up again caressing her cheek "You know, you should be someone your kid can feel proud of, and pushing a kid… it's not only low, but I'll make sure you regret this. Let's go children."

Not even an hour later, the family was chilling in the Mitchells' pool, and that night, when Beca went to kiss the girls goodnight in bed after having been told by Chloe, who had tucked them to bed, that the girls were fast asleep, she found Beth wide awake and staring at the lights from the street that came through the curtains and reflected on the ceiling. She looked thoughtful, and when Beca moved to lie beside her but over the covers, she only moved a bit to make room for her. Beca stared at her daughter.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Beca asked with a tiny smile, and Beth curved her lips into a tiny smile and stared at her.

"Momma, what's ADD?" Beca sighed.

"Attention Deficit Disorder" Beca said.

"She said I had that?" Beca nodded "But you all pay me more than enough attention. I wasn't faking it to call for more."

"I know honey. And, you know, having it is not a bad thing, is a disorder, people don't chose to have it. But we got bothered because what the woman meant to say is that mamma and I are bad mothers who ignore their children."

"But that's not true."

"That's why it's called talking bullshit, because they're lies created to hurt people and nothing else" Beca said. They were talking low to not wake up Kamara, who was indeed fast asleep "Are you happy here Beth? With us? Do you like the life you have?" After some seconds, Beth nodded.

"Yeah. It has it's things, like being waken up at weird hours with Noah or something, or when you and mamma are working, or… well, our loses history. But it has too many amazing things too" Beth replied "You know I love my family, mom, you never have to wonder about that."

Beca nodded slowly, and smiled.

"Listen Beth…" Beca lied on her side and drew circles with a finger on Beth's belly "If I told you there is a person that has studied many years how to talk about children's problems and fix them, mental and psychological problems I mean, and feelings, emotions and stuff, and that this person could help you a lot with… all you're dealing with, with your grandpa and everything else… would you be up to meet this person?"

"Do you and mamma think I need to do that?"

"Well, we aren't saying it's absolutely necessary, but you know, I've been seeing one of these persons, but for adults, for the past ten years. You know, a therapist. Your mamma, has also seen one quite a few times, and it has always helped us. It takes time and so much patience to find the right one for each person, but I can tell you I don't know if I would even be alive if it wasn't for mine, and I talked with mamma, and we think it would make things a lot easier for you. And your siblings will meet one too, so it can be easier for them too, to go through this" Beca explained. Beth thought about it for a second, and finally nodded.

"Okay, I will" Beth replied, and Beca nodded, getting up.

"Come on Beth, try to sleep, today has been a long day and tomorrow we have a lunch by the beach planned" Beca said standing up "you don't want to be sleepless."

"I don't think I can sleep mom."

"Why's that?" Beca sat again on the bed's side and frowned in concern.

"I just…" Beth shrugged "Every time I try to sleep, my mind starts thinking on them… and I just can't." Beca nodded slowly.

"Come, let me get in there" Beca lied under the covers next to Beth, everybody was in their pajamas now, so there wasn't a problem with that, and Beth hugged her. Beca threw her arms around her and stroke her hair "This song, I used to sing it to you to sleep when you were a baby, and then it was the first one I taught you on the piano."

"Riverside" Beth whispered, and Beca smiled nodding. Both started singing very softly.

 _"Down by the river by the boats, where everybody goes to be alone. Where you won't see any rising sun, down to the river we will run. When by the water we drink to the dregs, look at the stones on the river bed. I can tell from your eyes, you've never been by the riverside. Down by the water the riverbed, somebody calls you somebody says, swim with the current and float away, down by the river everyday. Oh my God I see how everything is torn in the river deep and I don't know why I go the way, down by the riverside. When that old river runs pass your eyes, to wash off the dirt on the riverside, go to the water so very near, the river will be your eyes and ears. I walk to the borders on my own, to fall in the water just like a stone, chilled to the marrow in them bones. Why do I go here all alone_ " Beca felt Beth fall asleep, confirmed when she stopped singing and Beca continued alone, with a side smile " _Oh my God I see how everything is torn in the river deep and I don't know why I go the way, down by the riverside. Oh my God I see how everything is torn in the river deep and I don't know why I go the way, down by the riverside. Oh… oh… hey… Oh… oh… hey… Oh… oh… hey… Down by the riverside… Down by the riverside._ " When Beca finished the song by herself, she looked down and saw Beth asleep on her chest, her wavy red hair falling rebelliously, her breath deep and slow, and the fist she had been using to grip Beca's t-shirt was now loose. Beca smiled, and carefully stood up and out of the bed, moving Beth into a more comfortable position, with her teddy bear close, her covers tucked perfectly, and then she leaned and kissed Beth on the cheek "Sweet dreams Elizabeth." Beca carefully got out of the bedroom, and closed the door making sure not to do a noise. Beca sighed deeply, tiredly, and walked downstairs, hearing heavy laughs.

Aubrey and Chloe were sitting on the sofa, with glasses of one of their bests whiskeys, laughing so much they were red. They both were wearing their pajamas too, and their feet were on the coffee table. The TV was off, the whisky bottle and another glass, empty, were waiting for Beca on the coffee table, and Beca had finally gotten herself and Chloe to let Noah sleep alone upstairs in his crib, as long as the bedroom door was wide open, so they could storm in any time if they heard cries.

"Finally, we got starting" Aubrey smirked at her, and Beca sat on the side of the sofa, with her back against a bunch of pillows and her feet on Chloe's lap. Chloe gently stroke the pale feet with one hand, and used the other to bring her glass to her lips again. Aubrey leaned to fill the empty glass and handed it to Beca, who drank a bit from it and smiled at the women in front of her eyes.

"Yeah, we were reminiscing" Chloe smirked "What took you so long this time?" Chloe asked.

"Or Elizabeth knows very well how to fake sleep, or she woke up and, long story short, couldn't fall asleep. But nothing beats _Riverside_." Beca smiled tiredly.

"She must have woken up, I swear she was asleep" Chloe traced with her fingertips the three little butterflies Beca had tattooed on her right ankle, just like Chloe, in honor of their firstborn, and then she traced the oak in autumn that was on the other ankle. It was little and even tinier leaves fell from it, and only a few were still on the branches "I love this tattoo." Beca and Aubrey looked at it for a moment, and Beca nodded.

"I would never tattoo on my skin something I couldn't fall in love with" Beca muttered "Although it's a sad tattoo. Some of them are."

It was barely past ten at night, but the three of them were pretty exhausted after a long afternoon having fun by the pool, which they had enjoyed a lot. Chloe and Aubrey had the backs of their heads against the back of the sofa, and Aubrey, who had had a Skype video call with her family before dinner, contemplated the nothingness while Chloe contemplated her fingers tracing patrons over Beca's feet. Beca had left her glass, empty, on the table, and had turned her face towards the back of the sofa closing her eyes. Chloe's caresses always relaxed her.

They fell into a comfortable silence, each of them thinking on their own things, until Chloe interrupted it.

"How are you Rebeca?" Beca opened her eyes, turning her head to face Chloe, who also Aubrey had turned to look at. Chloe's cheek was against the back of the sofa, and her tired gaze fell on Beca's eyes, a concentrated look mixture of concern, love, and seriousness in her usually shiny eyes. Beca understood her perfectly. She was asking for the truth, not for the crap you sometimes give to the ones you love the most so they don't have to suffer your pain. Plus, Chloe only called Beca by her full name or when she was really, really angry at her, or in a sweet way, because Chloe knew how to make it sound like a hex and also like the most lovable compliment ever. It was strange, but Beca loved it.

Beca contemplated her for a moment before deciding her wife deserved her honesty, and that now, the children were sleeping upstairs and she didn't have to pretend.

"Shattered to pieces" she whispered "But somehow okay. Maybe I've gotten used to the feeling of hurt, anger and emptiness inside, or maybe this little refugee we've made is enough to make sadness go away for a long time every day, but the day of the crash, I thought I would just die from the pain, and now it doesn't feel as such an unbearable thing anymore" she explained with a low voice. Chloe nodded slowly "If I think about it… the feeling of knowing everybody who ever constructed my nest, my safe place to call home and to go back to when everything else was falling apart since my birth, are dead, is overwhelming. Knowing only Addie and Sheila got to die without practically noticing, and the others had to suffer so much, that's unbearable. But my dad always told me it took twenty seven years of illnesses accumulating to kill my grandfather, that we Mitchells were hard to end, and maybe it's just pure stubbornness, but I'm not about to put it easier to anybody" her eyes closed again, and Chloe curved her lips into a tiny smile "And Posen?"

"They call me miss Swanson now" Aubrey smiled, and Beca smirked.

"I know I owe a thousand calls to mister Swanson, so you can tell him a long call is on my list. Still haven't thanked him for jumping in with me without blinking and try to save them" Beca yawned "I'm gonna go to sleep, this sofa isn't my dreamy king size." Beca crawled over the sofa to engage in a little make out session with Chloe "Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it" Chloe smiled, kissing her back. Beca pulled apart and smiled, and then kissed Aubrey's cheek.

"Night night sexy bitches" Beca smirked and ran upstairs.

An hour later, she was slightly drifted out of her sleep by two warm arms that made her be a little spoon soon. She closed the eyes that she had barely opened, welcoming the warm embrace, and feeling a kiss against her flower-tattooed arm, and a scent she knew all too well invaded her nose.

"I love you." Chloe whispered, believing Beca was asleep. Beca's lips curved into a tiny smile and let some seconds pass in silence before she whispered back.

"I love you more."


	29. Chapter 29

The following day, they set for a day at the beach, at one secret place Chloe and Beca had discovered years ago, when they moved into the city, where the media had never been able to find them. That's how they found out the voice had spread quite quickly about Beca losing her temper and punching a woman that was also playing the victim, when Beca's manager called her while they were preparing the bags, early that morning, to spend the day out.

"I'm telling you, that woman hit my daughter, she hit my six year old without a reason, not that there is ever justification to hit a child, and threw her to the ground, I should be the one calling my lawyers to put a formal complaint against her, not otherwise" Beca was talking into her phone five minutes into the call, as Chloe started pulling their eight-seats minivan out of their garage's entryway and into the road. Chloe threw her a side smile in a conspiratorial way. Chloe was driving, it was her minivan after all, and Beca was right beside her. Behind them were three seats, occupied only the ones by the windows with two kids in their special seats for children, one was Noah, and the other Kamara. Behind them, another three seats were, and this time, Aubrey sat in the middle, between Elizabeth and Micah, who was enjoying the change of seats. That way the adults were perfectly distributed to attend the children's needs during the trip. Beca sighed into her phone "You know what? That's exactly what I should do, and I am going to get that done pretty soon, nobody touched my kid and leaves just like that, the last one who tried was killed by the amazing lion I married. Move your ass, don't throw my family into the wolves because if that happens, blood is going to spill and it won't be mine. Look, I gotta go, I have a family day to enjoy, so we'll talk later. Bye." She hung up and looked back to Beth "Beth sweetheart, what do you think if we put an official denounce against the bad woman who pushed you?" Beth shrugged.

"Mom, you already punched her, why do anything more?" Beth asked.

"Because…" Beca thought a second, and sighed "It's okay, we'll talk about it in another time alright? Now, it's time for family fun, the Mitchells and aunt and godmother Swanson!" she said excitedly, and turned the radio on right on time for one of her mixes to reverberate in the car.

Five minutes later, she was grinning seeing Chloe and Aubrey sing their hearts out to the radio with all their energies, which Beca loved, and mostly she was completely in love with seeing Chloe singing her heart out in the car, the happiness in her face, how she sometimes looked at Beca when she could without crashing the car and she really meant the lyrics, how her tanned arms showed, with her muscles and all, and she was so beautiful with that bum and the summer dress, and her bikini under it. In moments like that, it would take a huge effort to avoid happiness.

" _Ain't falling apart, or bitter, let's be bigger than that and remember, the cooling outdoor when you're all alone, we'll go on surviving. No drama, no need for a show. Just wanna say, I got you. Go ahead and say goodbye, I'll be alright. Go ahead and make me cry, I'll be alright and when you need a place to run to for better or worse, I got you. Go ahead and say goodbye (go ahead), I'll be alright (say goodbye), go ahead and make me cry, I'll be alright and when you need a place to run to, for better or worse, I got you. 'Cause this is love and life and nothing we can both control and if it don't feel right, you're not losing me by letting me know. Go ahead and say goodbye (say goodbye). I'll be alright. Go ahead and make me cry, I'll be alright and when you need a place to run to, for better or worse, I got you_ " the children were also enjoying it a lot, although Noah had somehow found the way to fall asleep, and were pretty happy with it. The song ended, and Beca peeked looking to her children between her seat and Chloe's.

"And that my dear children, is mamma's and mine's marriage put together in a song" she joked, and some children and Aubrey laughed, while Chloe smiled and slapped her arm playfully.

"Sit correctly Mitchell, it makes me nervous having you in that position." Chloe asked, and Beca smiled satisfied sitting back "Plus, a hundred of Leona Lewis resume up our lives. We could communicate only using her lyrics." She joked, and Beca giggled, nodding.

Noah was still wearing off his stomach bug, and although he didn't showed fever anymore, sometimes he was fuzzy after meals, or cried a bit, or threw up some of the food, because his stomach still hurt a little, but his syrup and snuggling always helped with that. A couple hours later they were in that exact situation, when they had just had lunch at a terrace in the beach and Chloe was rocking their one year old, who was crying after having thrown up part of his food.

"He looks more like you now that he's older" Aubrey commented looking at Beca while they finished their desserts and Chloe hugged Noah to her chest.

"Micah has inherited much more from me, but still, Noah is a lot like my brother" Beca said "gestures and stuff. But we'll see when he's older, right little goblin?" Beca smiled at Noah, who was red from crying, but was slightly calmer than five minutes earlier.

"He's momma's boy" Chloe smiled "He wants you I think."

"Well, he's going to have to learn to appreciate mamma just as much, because my work keeps me more time away from home than yours and he's gonna suffer" Beca stroke Noah's belly "Chlo, his stomach is hard again, so he'll probably do number two a bit loose again. Maybe he needs to throw up again." She caressed his cheek, and Noah looked up at Chloe with wet eyes.

They decided to go to the sand and lie down or bath calmly at their place. They put the towels, and the children immediately jumped into the water, except Kai, who preferred trying to build a castle with Beca. Aubrey and Chloe sat on the towels with Noah, who wasn't crying but was visibly uncomfortable.

"So many years and it still surprises me how good she is with children" Aubrey commented while they watched Beca try to stop water from coming into their castle while Kai quickly made a lake to the castle so the water would fall there and not destroy their creation.

"She surprises me too every day. Children, wife… she does many amazing things" Chloe smiled. Kamara was very happy when the plan worked and the lake was done, and Beca, who didn't care about flashing her scars, that could be quite scary to see being honest, and was more freely wearing a bikini just like the other women, took her daughter up throwing her to the air and catching her. They could hear both their laughs, and then Micah and Beth came, and the four of them engaged into some kind of game that consisted in Beth running away and them catching her by jumping over her and throwing her to the sand, and then tickling her until they could hear Beca begging to breathe.

They spent quite a good afternoon there, and when the children got tired of the water, they all sat on the towels playing cards. Chloe was still taking care of Noah, and when she noticed he was about to start crying again, she went to look for Beca.

"Bec, Noah's hurting" Chloe said, and Beca nodded, taking Noah up in her arms, and walking slowly around the beach with him. Chloe didn't know how she did it, but it was a tactic that Beca always used with success.

"So you're a bit overwhelmed and upset, uh?" Beca hugged Noah to her chest. Beca sat on the shore, the water reaching her breasts, and sat Noah on her lap, hugging him to her tightly "Noah, tell me what's wrong buddy, you already speak a bit. Talk to momma."

"Momma" he cried "Momma!"

"I'm here love, and I'm never going anywhere." They sat, just enjoying the calm and the water, and Beca was humming some pretty song, and Noah's eyes were closing, until he finally fell asleep. Beca went back to Chloe, who wrapped them both in towels, and they sat there until it was too cold and they decided it was time to go back home. However, as Chloe was approaching their house, all children asleep, she frowned.

"What the hell?" she grunted. Beca, eyes opened widely. Their house, or their whole street for that matter, was surrounded by cameras, and press "The bitch denounced us" she whispered, looking at Chloe "that's why they're here."

"Beca, there's no way we can put inside four sleeping children without them taking photos" Chloe said.

"Didn't you say they were never this invading?" Aubrey asked.

"And they weren't. Chloe, don't stop, just keep driving around the neighborhood, I'll call police and my manager" they did so, and Beca then called her lawyer to make sure to present a formal complaint first thing in the morning, as the night was already falling over them, against the woman who had pushed Beth and then denounced them. When they went back to the house for the second time, after driving around the neighborhood for an hour, some local cops were clearing the street and there were only a few press guys near their door, so they went into their garage's entryway, that, like their whole territory, was enclosed, and they quickly carried their children into the house, trying not to wake them up. When they were safe from the press, Beca was already fuming "I'm gonna end this crap right now, do I have your consent to tell them what actually happened to our baby?" Beca said looking at Chloe, who was just upset, and gave her a nod.

Like Beca expected, in the other side of their frontal yard, right behind their fences' door, there were some press guys, not as much as before, but just enough. Beca had already pulled a jacket on and looked reasonably pissed off, as the opened the fence's door and stepped into the street. Press immediately started popping questions and making photos.

"Beca, did you hit an innocent woman because their daughter didn't want to play with Beth?"

"Beca, are you a violent woman?"

"Beca, do you know she presented a formal complaint against you?"

"Beca…"

Beca shook her head and raised a hand so they would shut up. The flashes only put her in a worse mood.

"Look guys, you want to know what happened? I'll tell you what happened. My six year old daughter Beth was talking with some kid, when the kid's mother hit my daughter without a reason, making her fall to the ground and cry. My wife and I demanded some kind of explanation for that deplorable behavior, but the woman blamed our child, saying she was, and I quote _withholding_ her child from playing, when the child was willingly talking to our child and wasn't upset at all. This woman then proceeded trying to make my wife and I look like bad mothers accusing us of not paying enough attention to our child, that by the way is quite happy with her family" Beca explained in a bad mood "So yeah, of course I punched her, and I would do it again. Anybody hurts my family and then just walks away without a scratch, my daughter was sad, hurt, and shocked after having been taught that she had to look for an adult's help when needed and then having an adult hit and insult her without a reason, even though that behavior never has a valid excuse, so of course I stepped to protect her like I swore her I would when we first learned that we were gonna have her. She has unfairly presented a formal complaint, and mine is on its way to be presented to because this is inexcusable. This said, I hope you can all leave us alone, because one thing is that you come after me, and another is bothering a child in her own house, and I won't think twice about taking legal measures to protect my family if I have to. Have a good night" she nodded once as a goodbye, and then got into her garden again, and into the house.

"Beth is crying" Aubrey said from the bottom of the stairs "she woke up when Chloe was taking her to her bedroom, and saw the media outside from her window. She knows this is about her."

Beca ran upstairs and heard crying in her bedroom, so she went there and saw Chloe sitting on the bed with Beth, hugging her tightly as the girl cried.

"This is not your fault honey, you did nothing wrong" Chloe was saying "You are such a good kid, and a good daughter, you did absolutely nothing wrong, and we will fix this mess."

Beca sat on the bed next to them and put an arm around Chloe's back and a hand stroking Beth's hair.

"Tomorrow it will all be okay Beth. You're home, nothing can hurt you here."

That night, Beca and Chloe were hugging in bed, snuggled until they were practically one same person with eight articulations. _Avery_ had decided to sleep on their bed that day, so they had her company too.

"Chlo, are you awake?" Chloe giggled.

"Do you think I could hug you this strongly in my sleep?" Chloe whispered, and Beca smiled moving so she could kiss her.

"Are you happy?" Chloe opened her eyes.

"Of course Bec. I couldn't be happier. You?"

"Yes" Beca snuggled into her embrace closer "I could be happier, but I'm also happier than I ever thought I would be. Saying yes to you was the best freakin decision…" Chloe smiled kissing her cheek.

"The complaints thing… it will be fixed, right?"

"It will be before the school year starts again, Chlo."

"Beca" Chloe whispered next to Beca's ear "You're the best."

"I married you after all." Then, Noah started crying, and Chloe got up and carried him to the bed, lying him between them "He is feverish again" Beca commented kissing his forehead.

"Why isn't the syrup working?" Chloe asked.

"It made him feel somehow better, but not completely. It'll be okay Chlo, kids get sick all the time" Beca tried to convince themselves "Noah honey, what's wrong?" she asked sweetly kissing the baby's forehead.

"Does it hurt here, baby?" Chloe asked pressing softly with a finger on his belly, and he nodded while sobbing "Yeah, it's a bit swollen. Let's give him his syrup and tomorrow we'll see the pediatrician again." Chloe said moving to the nightstand where they had the syrup, and Beca held him while she gave it to him "Sh… it's alright Noah, this will hopefully help a bit."

Five minutes later, however, he wasn't crying any less, so, anguished, Beca and Chloe took their little midget to the music room and sat on the sofa there with him, singing softly and trying to calm him down a bit. After fifteen more minutes, they got him to calm down and stop crying, but then, he wouldn't fall asleep, so they moved to the puzzle rug in the living room and lied there playing with the kid until the sun raised, and then, Aubrey found them almost asleep. Well, Chloe had finally falling asleep, she had been the first one to wake up that morning after all, and she was now hugging Noah, who lied between them, while Beca stroke her hair and kept a hand on Noah, who had his thumb in his mouth and was wide awake.

"What the hell happened here?" Aubrey asked kneeling on the floor next to them.

"My child won't fall asleep. He cried for twenty minutes last night, and he had a fever, and his belly hurt, and now he won't fall asleep" Beca explained "Poor Chlo fell asleep two minutes ago."

"I'm awake" Chloe muttered more asleep than awake "I'm… just… resting my… eyes…"

"Just sleep honey, it's alright" Beca smiled sleepily at her.

"Okay, you two up to bed, I'll take care of the goblins" Aubrey said, picking Noah up and rocking him.

"Aubrey you're a sweet angel sent from heaven, seriously" Beca got up and helped Chloe get up on her feet. Aubrey smirked.

"I know, that's why I'm the godmother."

A bit more than an hour later, Aubrey, however, was waking them up.

"What?" Chloe asked, and then sighed when she heard Noah crying again. She opened her eyes and saw Aubrey sitting on their bed rocking Noah.

"Again?" Beca sat up.

"Listen, his fever is quite high, you should take him to the doctor now. I can babysit the others" Aubrey said. Beca was already throwing some hoodie on, and Chloe got up and caressed Noah's face. He was really hot "I tried to give him breakfast, but he threw it up. Maybe it's just gastroenteritis getting tricky, but I wouldn't risk it."

"Thanks Aubrey" Beca threw Chloe a hoodie, which she took.

"By the way, Beca, your lawyer called. He told me to tell you the complaint is done, and that the other woman's lawyer had called and wanted you all to meet and fix things before they got to judge's eyes. I told him Noah was sick and you probably wouldn't be able to go, but you should call him."

"Thanks, I'll call him later. Come on, let's go."

"He what?" Forty five minutes later, they stood next to the pediatrician's consult's bed where Noah was lying crying while the doctor examined him.

"His appendix has burst" the doctor explained while looking at the X-Rays he had just performed on the baby "You say another doctor told you he had gastroenteritis?"

"Yeah, he was seen first in Florida because we were on vacation… so he had appendicitis all this time?" Chloe couldn't look more anguished if she tried. The doctor nodded.

"I'm afraid I have to prepare him for surgery immediately, it looks like the infection has already spread too much and we can't wait."

"Okay" Beca nodded "How does this work, can we stay with him?"

"I'm afraid not" the doctor said "I'll start him on antibiotics with an IV while an OR gets ready, and then we'll take him, but you can wait here and I'll let you know when it's over so you can come and see him. He'll be under general anesthesia, we'll perform a laparoscope, so we won't have to open him much, just a tiny incision over here" he pointed in his belly "and the most important thing right now is to keep him in antibiotics so the infection doesn't spread anymore." While he explained this, a nurse was already putting him an IV, and Chloe tried to soothe him while the IV was inserted. Beca had her arms crossed over her chest standing next to Noah and Chloe while contemplating the doctor with a worried expression "Noah will have to stay in the hospital for a week or so afterwards, until he recovers completely." Beca nodded, and the doctor gave her three hospital bracelets and a pen "I need you to write your son's name on them, and you and your wife can wear the bigger ones, and you can put the smaller one on Noah's wrist. In the meantime, I'll go to get everything ready, wait here and I'll come when it's ready. It will be half an hour at the very most, but he'll be okay with the antibiotics."

Waiting for Noah to get out of surgery was pure torture. His two mothers were on the verge of tears constantly, and Chloe finally let them out when Aubrey came all worried after leaving the kids with their super nice neighbors, the Hannigans. The two of them sat patiently, while Beca abandoned the chair and started walking errands around the room, too stressed to sit down. Finally, after some hours, Noah's doctor came and took them to another room, where Noah was sleeping peacefully in a bed all too big for him, attached to a couple IVs. The doctor told them the surgery had gone smoothly and that they would wait a few days until giving him the good to go, so the infection would heal and the fever go down. Chloe sat on an armchair next to the bed and her eyes watered again as she took one of Noah's minuscule hands between her own hands, careful not to move his IV, and kissed his cheek. Beca stood next to the bed with Aubrey, taking in what her eyes were seeing. The room was quite small, and was decorated like a normal children bedroom, with a window that leaded to the corridors, and with many colored animals and stuff. Noah seemed so small, and was a little pale, but Beca was happy not to see him crying again. Aubrey pulled Noah's reindeer out of her purse and put it carefully next to Noah on his bed, and stroked his cheek tenderly. Beca's legs finally reacted and she moved to cover Noah's face with light kisses, and then she went to Chloe and knelt on the floor next to her, stroking her arm. Chloe looked at her with teary eyes.

"Noah's okay. He's gonna be completely fine and home soon, you'll see" Beca said, putting a tiny smile and caressing Chloe's cheek, removing her tears. Chloe nodded.

"He's just so young, so small" Chloe whispered, and Beca gave her a nod.

"I know. But he's quite strong, he has proven it since he was born" Beca reminded her.

"He won't feel bad anymore, right?" Chloe asked.

"Maybe he does, from the surgery, but it won't be as bad and he is also sedated now, so he should feel fine."

"I hope you're right" Beca got up and kissed her on the lips "I really want to stay, but I have to go and fix this royal crap that woman got ourselves into with Beth. I'll check on the kids too, let them know everything is fine, okay?" Chloe nodded.

"Don't you need me there too? To talk with our lawyer?"

"I can deal with it alone baby, I wouldn't want our kid to wake up and not have mommies here, and you have already had a day rough enough. Stay here and rest, me and my horrible temper will go, fix this, and come straight back."

"Better not come straight" Chloe joked, and Beca smiled "I love you."

"I love you too" Beca kissed Noah again and walked towards the door. Then stopped to look at Aubrey "Stay with her?" Aubrey nodded.

"Sure."

Beca then ran to their lawyer's bureau where they should've meet with Madame Jenkinson, the woman who hurt Beth and her lawyer and the judge, an hour ago.

"Finally" the woman said when Beca arrived "We were about to go."

"Then stay, you denounced me first" Beca replied roughly "Your honor, I would like to talk to you in private about the reason I didn't came sooner. It's quite personal." Beca added looking at the judge, who nodded and got out of the room with her. They walked to another room more far away, where they could be alone "Your honor, one of my children, who's fourteen months old, his appendix burst and he just had surgery. I couldn't come before I knew he was going to be okay. My wife is with our son, and that's why she hasn't come, but I told her he shouldn't wake up and not find any of his mothers there. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm a mother too" the judge smiled and pointed to the door "Shall we?"

Jenkinson explained her version of the story, Beca explained what she considered the version of the story, and both exposed their reasons to present official complaints against the other. Jenkinson denounced Beca for punching her, and Beca and her family denounced Jenkinson from hurting physically and psychologically their child plus trying to damage Beca's and Chloe's reputation, and insulting their family.

"Look" the judge started "Mrs. Jenkinson, your denounce has valuable reasons, but any jury in the world will see you as the bad guy after you insulted, hurt, and calumniated a six year old without a reason. As I see it, we can go to trial, but I think it will be worse for yourself than actually agreeing something here. I could send you to prison for a few weeks for this, you know?" she looked at Beca "Mrs. Mitchell, why don't you calmly meet with your wife, discuss some kind of compensation, or punishment, and we'll talk about this another day and choose an appropriate way to fix this without going to trial? Would that be okay?"

"Yes your honor" Beca nodded "I'll talk with my wife."

"But she punched me in the face!" the other woman argued "She's just going to go like that and I'm gonna go to prison? This is unfair, she's rich, she can save her ass perfectly fine!"

"Mrs. Jenkinson, what I intended to say is that you can perfectly well go to trial, but that the jury will even support Mrs. Mitchell's actions and won't want a punishment. The more you can get from this is a few dollars of compensation, a quite small quantity that won't be a problem for the Mitchells at all, but you'll still be punished. You hurt a child, what you did is inexcusable." The judge said, starting to get angry "We'll delay this meeting until further advice, when the Mitchells make a decision. Let's go home, we all have better things to do."

After checking that her other three children were fine and having fun with the Hannigans and taking a pajama for Noah, Beca went back to the hospital, where Noah had already woken up and was enjoying some food from his baby bottle while sitting on Chloe's lap, the IV carefully kept in its place. Beca explained everything to Chloe while sitting on the side of the bed contemplating her wife and child and stroking his hair, and then she helped Chloe change the boy into his pajamas with the help of another nurse to keep the IVs in place, and Aubrey left to pick the children up and take them to some cool place for lunch to spend a day with their favorite aunt, as Aubrey herself said.

"Wow, look at Mr. Reindeer, he has gotten big just like you!" Chloe smiled at their child, that was once again lying on his bed, while his mothers sat at both sides of the bed, and Chloe moved the reindeer in front of his eyes, and Noah tried to catch it "You know Mr. Reindeer is going to be quite busy in a few months, helping Santa carry the presents to everybody's houses?" Noah looked something between surprised and like he didn't understand a thing, and Beca smiled kissing his cheek.

"Mamma's right! But he'll still manage to make you company and play with you as much as you want, and he'll work while you're busy doing other things, like having a bath" Beca explained.

"Mmm!" Noah tried to speak.

"Noah" Beca smiled when the boy recognized his name and stared at her "Who am I?" she pointed at herself.

"Momma!" he said excitedly, happy to have an answer.

"Very good, I'm momma Beca. And you know who's she, right?" she pointed to Chloe, who smiled "She's mamma Chloe, and she loves you as much as I do, you know buddy? I bet you already knew that. Who's she, Noah?"

"Mamma!" Noah yelled excitedly, and Chloe's eyes burst into tears immediately. Beca grinned.

"Very good Noah, she's mamma! Oh, you're so clever Noah, so intelligent!" Beca encouraged him.

"Mamma! Momma! Mamma!" Noah giggled, and Chloe covered him in kisses, making him giggle more.

"First word momma, second fuck, and third mamma" Chloe commented a while later, when Noah had fallen asleep, and smiled looking at Beca "He's a Mitchell of pure lineage."

"He is" Beca grinned "What can I say? Our genetics is pretty strong." Beca was sitting on the armchair, hugging Chloe, who sat on her lap. Beca kissed her cheek.

"I like what we have here, Beca. What we've made" Chloe said suddenly.

"I do, too."

"I hate to think like this but, I… sometimes I'm thankful for Etton to come into your life. You know, only for a fragment of a second, and it always makes me feel worst than horrible" she added quickly when she saw Beca's face go pale "But if it wasn't for her, maybe we wouldn't have been together, maybe all of this wouldn't exist."

"But that's not true, Chlo" Beca said "I think a lot about what would've had happened if I had never known her, and you know what? I would have never had to feel the worst I've felt in my life, the blame, the guilt, the pain, the sadness, all of it. I would've never flown to Portland drugged up to not be in hysterics, I would've had ten Christmas and New Years and stuff with my mother and my mother's family. I would never be older than my older brother, this summer, I would've had celebrated my nephew's thirteenth birthday, I would never visit Portland's cemetery a bunch of times every year, I wouldn't have had such a big depression, and periods of it, or years of therapy, or the pain inside that even today sometimes comes, I wouldn't be almost the happiest person alive, but the happiest, without the almost. We were meant to be, we've always been, and we've probably started dating at some point, maybe after meeting again for New Year's or for Aubrey's and Jesse's birthdays, or they would've end up putting us together. Aubrey would have gotten pregnant in New York, we would've had our first time in some other place. Maybe it would've taken us longer, but sooner or later, we would've had this amazing family, and they would've been at our wedding, and my brother would've have been one of the groomsmen, and you would've gotten to meet all of them, and our family, and my mother would've been a grandma, and my brother an uncle, and my nephew would have had the cousins he always asked me when would they come" Beca shrugged and rubbed her eyes "I would have given anything Chlo, to go back in time and make things some other way, because I've loved you since the first day, and I know I could've gotten you anyway. Without having to think of the most hurtful words to talk about people I love so much but I was deprived of ever seeing or hearing again."

"I'm sorry Bec" Chloe kissed her "I'm sorry, you're right. I wish things would've been different too. I'm sorry."

"It's okay" Beca let Chloe surround her neck with her arms, and supported her head against her chest "I love you, I understand. Changing topics… I'd like your opinion about something."

"Sure."

"It's about Jesse. I know I shut everybody out when the car accident happened and I didn't mean to, I was just in need for loneliness. But I know it hurt Jesse specially that I never answered his calls and that I had you giving him excuses, he even got sick from helping me try to save them, he was the best, he is the best friend I could ever dream of, and I know I messed things up. We haven't spoken since Portland, and that's more than three weeks ago, and he didn't even come or anything. And I was thinking on calling him, telling him everything but… I think I would chicken out if I called him, that I wouldn't say everything I would like to, everything he deserves" Beca explained, and Chloe nodded "So I was thinking on writing him a long letter."

"I think it's a good idea. You can always call him around the time you think he has gotten the letter. You could ask Aubrey to text you when he reads the letter, and you could call him right after, just to make it more personal."

"Yeah, right?" Beca nodded "I should do that."

"Why don't you ask the nurse for some paper and a pen, say it's for Noah, and write it now? That way, you won't keep leaving it for later and then never doing it."

"You're right." Chloe stood and Beca went to get paper and pen. She made some space on Noah's nightstand, and sat on the side of the bed. She breathed deeply, she had never written him a letter, she had barely burst into talks about feelings and stuff with him, but she wanted to tell him everything. She wanted him to know everything she had ever want somebody to know, but hadn't said.

 _Dear Jesse:_

 _I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from, that I really messed things up with you, but here I am. I thought with a call I wouldn't get to tell you all I want to, so I went the old way. Firstly Jesse, I will never be able to thank you enough for doing what you did, jumping into that freezing cold water, helping me open that car, getting the girls out of there. I'm forever thankful for that. You really tried to help, to save them, and I know you're the only one who knows what the nightmares about that place are like, how that water was, or being inside of it, and I know you didn't only want to talk with me to try to help me again, but because you needed to talk about it with somebody who knew what you were talking about, or at least with your best friend, because some things, and I know that from experience, you can't talk about them with your wife. I know I didn't only shut you out, but gave you my back when you needed me the most. It hurts me to even think how bad must have been to be feeling what you were probably feeling, and knowing the only person who could understand won't even answer your texts. And I'm forever sorry for that, but I promise I will do whatever it takes, everything, to compensate how bad of a friend I've been. I don't usually say it, but you're like a brother to me, I love you to the moon and back, and I thank the heavens everyday for putting you into my life. You were the best boyfriend I could've ever dreamed of, and I'm so glad I still got to have you to be close to me, because you're one of the most important parts of my life._

 _I don't know what to say, Jesse. I just feel like saying sorry time after time, but I know that's for nothing, although if that's what you want, I will. I'll apologize until my last breath, you deserve it. I don't even have excuses. I felt… I felt like I had no good reason to keep going anymore, like I was so angry with life itself, and I was having the kind of thoughts of fuck it, I don't wanna be here anymore, what for? What for, if every single time sun shines, a freaking thunder changes my life forever and in the worst ways? I thought life shouldn't be about being thankful to be alive, and getting anxious every time the phone rings, even more if it's late at night, praying instantly that they aren't bad news, that everybody is safe and happy. Alive at least. I still get those thoughts sometimes, and the sadness, the anxiety, the feeling of culpability, everything. But one of the worst things I've been feeling, is the knowledge that you needed me and I wasn't there, when you have been beside me always, you even broke up with me to be there for me when I needed my best friend and nothing else, you've come to pick me up in the middle of the night so many times, you're my guardian angel if that exists. And my children, you love them so much, and you've taken such good care of them when I couldn't. I just shut you out because in one side, I didn't want to talk to anybody, and in another side, I knew I would cry the second I called you, and break down, and I don't know, I guess I don't even understand why but talking to you was something I wasn't feeling like doing at all, a thought that was ever unappealing at that time, and I'm sorry._

 _Aubrey told us you had been sick, I hope you're feeling much better now. She also said the twins are doing good with class and have a great bunch of friends, and that Catherine made her first best friend ever. Send them kisses from us, will you? And have a big one from me you too. I guess Aubrey told you the latest news around here, Elizabeth got pushed by a grown up woman, I punched said woman, she denounced us, we denounced her… today the judge asked us to think of a reasonable punishment, and I'm trying to decide if hanging her from her thumbs is reasonable enough. What does reasonable even mean, uh? Also, I discovered I was so traumatized I couldn't even go to the beach, but Chloe helped me get over that. And now, we're in the hospital, that seems to be our perfect place, and will soon be renamed Mitchell General Hospital. Noah was sick and a dumb doctor in Florida told us he had gastroenteritis, that was several days ago, and today Noah's appendix burst, and we discovered not only he had been having appendicitis, but that he had just lost it. He's battling some infection, but he's a Mitchell, he was born a warrior in the woods, right? So I trust he'll be fine, because if he isn't, I will die. I thought the scariest thing I would live with him would be his birth, but life is constantly making giving me the best jokes._

 _Don't be angry at me anymore, will you? Even if it's just because you feel sorry for me. I miss you. Although, if I think about it, I guess I have it deserved, right?_

 _I love you._

 _Becs._

She had just folded the letter, when there was a knock at the door. Chloe gave whoever it was permission to come in, and Beca turned to see Aubrey coming in with a huge teddy bear, and behind her, there was Jesse himself.


	30. Chapter 30

"Hey, look left the kids with the family and came!" Aubrey said excitedly looking from Chloe, while handing her the teddy bear and giving her a kiss on the cheek, to Jesse, who smiled.

"How's little hobbit?" Jesse asked pointing at Noah.

"He's fine, he'll be okay" Chloe nodded, and looked from Beca, who stood awkwardly with the letter in her hands, looking at Jesse with a expression mixture of sadness, culpability, and resignation, to Jesse. Chloe bit her lip, and Aubrey was also contemplating the two herself, both girls kind of concerned. Jesse, however, was stroking Noah's feet, contemplating him like if thinking what could he do to make it better.

Beca shyly gave a silent step forward and tapped Jesse's arm softly, looking down and acting like if Jesse really intimidated or scared her. And it was a justified fear, because when Jesse looked back, you could tell he was mad. His usually really warm eyes looked at her coldly, and Beca didn't dare to look at him while she handed him the letter. He took it rather reluctantly and Beca walked back to where she had been sitting before and contemplated Jesse's legs like a dog staring at a horrible owner who just kicked him. Chloe and Aubrey looked from each other to Jesse, who was a fast reader and didn't take long to read the letter in the most absolute silence that had formed. When it was over, he blended it again and shoved it into his pocket, before staring at Beca with crossed arms.

"That's it?" Jesse asked staring at Beca, who shyly looked up and then shrugged. She stood up and walked towards Jesse, shyly taking his hands, looking down again, but then looking up.

"I'm so sorry Jesse… I… I deserve your anger. You tried to save them, you did something amazing, and all I did in reward was ignore your existence completely and fly away. I'm the crappiest of friends there is, and you deserve so much better and I'm sorry I'm how I am." She shrugged again "I don't have a right to ask for it, but could you please forgive me? I could… I could babysit for a week, or clean your car, whatever." Jesse cackled.

"Yeah, like I forgot what happened last time you cleaned my car" Beca had spent an hour putting all the carpets of the car out, all the covers, papers, and trash, and then after vacuuming all of it, she had realized she had no idea how to put everything back in place.

"Well, I do know how to iron shirts, I could do your ironing for a month" Beca suggested.

"That sounds quite tempting, but I think I will settle with a hug, you know?" as soon as Jesse said it, Beca launched herself and hugged him tightly. Jesse smiled and wrapped his arms around the tiny woman, supporting his cheek on her hair. Chloe and Aubrey curved their lips into a tiny smile. Although they hadn't been wanting to tell Beca anything, Aubrey had been talking to Chloe about how at like the twelfth missed call and the thirtieth unanswered text, Jesse hadn't want to hear a word about Beca, and had started acting like if she didn't exist at all.

Jesse went to pull apart, but then Beca hugged him tighter, and suddenly the brunette was crying and crying hard. Chloe's face immediately showed concern, and Aubrey's surprise, like Jesse's, but the man just hugged her tighter and let her cry against her chest. Beca couldn't even put a finger on the reason to cry, but she felt like she had been needing it for long, and when she started, she couldn't stop, and when she finally did, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest.

"Mamma" Noah had woken up, and Beca turned around quickly rubbing her eyes. Chloe sat on the side of the bed and smiled at the boy caressing his cheek.

"What's up, big boy? Water?" Chloe pointed to the bottle of water on the nightstand, and after Noah nodded, Chloe served him a plastic glass of water, and helped him drink it carefully "That's good Noah love. You okay? How's your belly?" Noah stared intently at her, and smiled. Chloe grinned and kissed him on the cheek. Beca smiled sitting on the other side of the bed stroking his hair, her back to the head of the bed, so she could face Chloe and the rest.

"Look who came to see you Noah, uncle Jesse and aunt Aubrey!" Beca excitedly pointed to the others, who came closer "Look what they bought you, a giant teddy bear!" Beca moved the toy in front of his eyes and he raised his tiny hands to get it.

"You like it, Noah?" Jesse smiled at the child, who keep trying to catch his new friend.

Hours later, Chloe's parents and siblings came. After all these years, Beca still felt quite guilty of the amount of time their families and friends spent in the hospital with them and not with their families, and hoped her nieces and nephews weren't traumatized by the lack of parents. Jesse, George and Wyatt and Eva, who had also came for a while, went to check on their children, as the night was starting to come. Angela came too to visit, her wife having gone with their children to the Mitchell household. Aubrey had also went and brought Beth, who by some miracle of the guard of the hospital, was allowed to come and visit her brother.

They were comfortably in the room, kind nurses had brought some extra chairs from here and there and so they could sit pretty good, and then Noah started crying heavily.

"Oh, he must be in pain the poor boy" Anna frowned.

"Ready?" Beca smiled at Chloe, who nodded. Since they couldn't take Noah in their arms often, they had designed a plan that never failed to calm their son while a nurse changed his medicine for the pain so he could have some more "Noah, you know, I really like your feet… can I eat this one? You have two, you can go without this one right?" Beca joked pretending to bite one of his feet. The boy stopped crying and concentrated on keeping his feet far away from Beca. Chloe started leaving light kisses on his neck and face, and Beca focused on his limbs, kissing him softly, until Noah was giggling and kind of laughing, taking Chloe's face between his tiny hands.

"Hello Noah" Chloe smiled, and Noah made an 'o', surprised of having her face that close, and then he smiled, bringing her closer until their noses were touching. Beca looked at them and grinned. Then Chloe yawned and Noah giggled touching her mouth.

"Mamma" Noah smiled.

"Hey, the boy's talking!" George pointed.

"Yeah" Beca nodded "He started with momma, then he learned fuck, please don't ask how, and then today he proved he knows mamma too. You know Chloe, you are exhausted, why don't you go to sleep? I'll stay."

"No, you should go to sleep, you had that meeting and everything, and you have another meeting tomorrow which I don't…" Chloe argued.

"Actually" Jesse interrupted "Noah's pretty well surrounded with family right now, so why don't you both go to sleep? You are both exhausted, and I've slept pretty well plus a nap on the plane, so I will stay with him tonight. Noah and I are good buddies, we'll have fun."

"I don't know Jesse, we have never really left him without at least one of us since his birth." Beca said doubting.

"Yeah, and even less since he was kidnapping, he doesn't take well both of us leaving. He already gives a bit of a tantrum when one of us isn't home or if he's alone in a room even if one of us is in the next room" Chloe bit her lip looking at Noah, who looked at her curious.

"Chloe, the kidnapping scared the shit out of you, and in consequence, you both are overprotecting Noah, if he doesn't get used to not seeing both of you all of the time, he will always be too dependent, and what about when he goes to kindergarten?" Jesse reasoned.

"Well, there are still a few years for that, now he's one! He doesn't have to get used to not seeing us, he's too young." Chloe argued "He will cry in the second he can't see any of us, and he will cry harder when we don't come back like we've always done except for the kidnapping. He's already traumatized enough."

"Yeah… I don't know Jesse, maybe you're right, but not now, you know? Right now is not the moment I'm going to start trying to teach my son to be independent, plus, he has independency in the DNA, Mitchells are loners enough" Beca shrugged.

"I'll stay tonight" Chloe said "You can come after the meeting and I'll go home then and be with our children so they don't miss us too much either."

"Perfect" Beca nodded "I'll wait until after dinner to go though, if I can't see this little one until lunch time tomorrow, I wanna memorize this pretty face" Beca caressed Noah's cheek softly.

"It's probably not the right time" Angela commented "But I just remembered, didn't you had a meeting with the bitch that hit Beth, Beca? how did it go, is she going to prison?"

"No" Beca exchanged a look with Chloe "No, and we don't want her money either. But the judge did give us the reason and basically told this woman that she could go on with her denounce against me, but that all the jury was going to see was that she was a horrible woman who hit a child, and I'm a brave mother defending my daughter, so she would end up worst. I think her lawyer realized already and that's why they are trying to have some deal with us. The judge told me to talk with Chloe and take our time to decide what to do, but we haven't come up with anything yet."

"But momma, she has a daughter too, and the daughter is really nice" Beth said worried, sitting on her grandmother's lap "Can't you decide something not too bad so they don't send her away from her daughter? Her daughter would miss her."

"Well, do you have any suggestions on what should we do then?" Chloe asked nicely with a tiny smile. She loved Beth's big heart. Beth thought about it for a moment.

"Let it slide this time" Beth side "Momma already punched her pretty hard, and told her some rough things, so the woman can take it as an advice. If she's ever mean again… life will punish her, I guess. Bad people always end up bad, so maybe she just had a bad week and is good inside."

"You want to let her go just like that?" Charles asked surprised, and Beth nodded.

"But she's a liar honey, and she did insult you and harm you" Beca reminded Beth.

"Then, she'll rot in hell" Beth shrugged "We are good people, why should we purposely harm somebody? Even if that's somebody is a bad person, we are a family of musicians, we aren't judges, that's not our job."

Chloe and Beca smiled and Chloe stood and took Beth, who giggled, in her arms, covering her in kisses.

"You're such a good girl, such a big heart" Chloe hugged her tightly. Beca contemplated them in silence, thinking they somehow had managed to create such a big thing. Noah was calmly playing with his toy lying in bed, and had started to drift off to sleep too.

"You think I made a good decision too, momma?" Beth asked looking at Beca from her ginger mother's lap. Beca nodded slowly.

"I would even add I'm kind of happy you didn't get my genes, or the woman would be in great trouble. You've done well, girl" Beca smiled.

"Would grandpa be proud?" Beth asked, and Beca's heart flinched a little.

"Yeah" Beca nodded "He could never not be proud of you Beth. I, however, will make sure to show some disappointment from time to time so you don't get too spoiled" she added joking, with a little side smile, and Beth grinned.

"If I fail music, you can be disappointed, I would be" Beth shrugged.

"Uhm… if you fail music, I don't know what I'll do with myself" Beca stood up "I'm gonna get some water for this guy" she said taking the now empty bottle of water from the nightstand.

Beca got out from the room and walked around the corridors. In the cafeteria they only sold cold water, because it was the summer and it was hot, but cold water wasn't good for Noah's delicate throat, so she threw the bottle and went out of the hospital looking for some place where she could get it. When she was back in the hospital, her phone sounded and she took it while walking towards the room.

"Beca Mitchell"

"Bonjour, miss Rebeca Mitchell?" somebody asked.

"Oui, c'est moi. Qui es-toi?" Beca replied while opening the door to the bedroom. She was listening to the French man while she entered the room again, handing the bottle to Chloe, who raised her eyebrows hearing her speak French, which wasn't common except if she had French clients "Pardon moi, cette maison n'est pas en vente… non, il est à moi… non…" she kept walking to exit the room again, not being able to understand the caller with everybody talking in the room. After long five minutes, Beca hung up and went into the room again with a thoughtful expression.

"I love it when you speak weird languages mom" Beth grinned "Do you have work? Do you have to go?"

"No honey, it's August" Beca smiled at her "It was just some French guy, nothing else."

"What did he want?" Chloe asked.

"He wanted…" Beca sat next to Chloe and Beth, contemplating Noah, who had fallen asleep again "He wanted to buy my mother's house in Portland."

"But you told him it's not for sale, right momma?" Beth frowned.

"I did honey, but don't you think it would be nice maybe to sell the house? We could buy some house somewhere else" Beca suggested looking at her daughter, who looked at Chloe with an expression mix of big surprise and fear.

"Momma, that's your childhood home, you're not selling it!" Beth argued "Plus, we go there a lot in the holidays, you said we'll go again maybe next year!"

"You can't be serious Becs" Chloe said "Wait, you told him a straight no, right? The house isn't even for sale." Beca bit her lip.

"I told him it wasn't for sale, and told him no several times. Then, he told me all about how he would like to move in with his family, that they come from Marseille looking for the American dream or something, they really like Portland, and they saw the house and were told by neighbors the owner was me and that the house is usually empty and they thought to give it a try. I told him I had to think about it."

"Well you don't" Chloe argued "It would be a tremendous mistake and you would seriously regret it Beca, you already sold your brother's house, you're not selling that one too. Plus, we have many good memories there, and so many of our first times and best winter days happened there, and you go there some times every month when you visit the family."

"Chloe, I am going to think about selling it despite it all. What are we gonna do, have it until we hare eighty? Keep carrying it with us only because of memories? If we did that with everything, our house would be a damn mess, it's called Diogenes Syndrome."

"It's a house Beca, it's one thing, one thing that we actually use and enjoy as a family, and you can't make that decision without us, so if we say no, you can't sell it" Chloe shrugged.

"Why not? It's my mother's house, you know? My childhood home. My brother's childhood home. Why should I even consider another opinion but mine with what happens to the house?" Beca argued. Chloe stared at her silently, and Beth walked slowly to her aunts, sensing the tension grow between her mothers.

"I think you need to have a good night's sleep Rebeca, because you're starting to say the kind of things you'll regret." Chloe said piercing her with her eyes "Go to sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

"What? No, this…" Beca tried to argue, but Chloe interrupted.

"Go to sleep. You know what? Our son is freakin sick right next to us, I won't have arguments next to him and you're starting to really piss me off in front of family, and then, I'll say hurtful things I'll regret just like you've started to do, so you better go to sleep and talk to me when your brain has rested. Either you do that, or I'll go, you choose." She said it so kindly you wouldn't say she was really angry.

Beca stared at her in silence and then she nodded.

"Beth hon, let's go home" Beca said standing up and leaning to give Noah a kiss on the cheek "Goodnight son" she whispered contemplating his sleeping face. She turned, and Chloe was giving Beth a kiss goodnight. When she did so and Beth went to say goodbye to her family, Beca and Chloe stared at each other.

"Are you really that mad you're not even gonna kiss me?" Chloe asked surprised, and Beca shook her head.

"I'm not mad" Beca stated "Just… forget it" she shook her head and leaned pressing her lips tenderly against Chloe's, who stroke her cheek while enjoying the kiss.

That night, however, Beca couldn't sleep until very late. She lied on her bed, contemplating the ceiling of her bed. She didn't want to sell her mother's house, the sole idea broke her heart in little pieces and frightened so much, but she felt like that house was a weight. Like she wanted to desperately forget about everything that reminded her of her dead loved ones so she didn't have to suffer anymore, but at the same time, she didn't want to at all. After turning around and around time after time, she huffed and sat on the bed supporting her back on the pillows. She would've never thought a king size bed would be too big for her alone. Chloe's side still smelled like her. She grabbed her cell phone, plugged in her earphones, and pressed the video call button.

"Beca, what the hell are you doing awake at one in the morning?" Chloe asked in a whisper. Beca could barely see her because of the darkness of her room, but she saw Chloe had her earphones too, to not bother their baby.

"I could ask you the same" Beca smirked "I couldn't sleep, I guess I'm not used to sleeping alone." Chloe side smiled.

"Oh, poor Bec. Our son woke me up a while ago because he was thirsty. He's asleep again, but now my brain is too active to sleep" Chloe moved the phone so Beca could see a dark bed with the bump that was their kid with his giant teddy bear and his little reindeer.

"Awesome" Beca smiled a bit "The toddlers are sleeping too, with the pets. So I'm quite…" she moved the phone showing their big empty bed "Alone."

"I thought you liked loneliness" Chloe giggled.

"I do, but sometimes I don't" Beca shrugged.

"So what has you awake?" Chloe asked.

"Not having someone I can snuggle with, I guess" Beca replied, although it wasn't a complete truth, but didn't want to argue about the house with Chloe again "Aren't you tired?"

"Exhausted, but I told you, my brain isn't relaxed enough to sleep."

"I could try to relax it. Sing you a song maybe."

"Yeah, but then you'll be even more awake and lonely."

"But you would be resting. It's worthwhile for me." Chloe smiled tenderly.

"You're the best wife."

"Tell me something I don't know" Beca joked "So what do we do?"

"Yeah" Chloe nodded "Sing to me."

"Okay. Close your eyes, I'll end the call when you fall asleep. And lie in a way your phone won't fall and break when you fall asleep." Chloe moved until she was comfortably settled.

"Done" Chloe closed her eyes, keeping her phone on the mattress of her bed but grabbed with her hand so it would face her. Beca started singing _Here I am_ by Leona Lewis, and not quite long after, she heard Chloe's deep breath, she saw Chloe's lips part a bit as her face relaxed, and the cell moved a little as her hand changed position. She had fallen asleep. Beca smiled.

"Sweet dreams love" Beca felt some sadness inside, or maybe an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, and ended the call.

She decided it was quite late and one way or another she had to fall asleep, or she would be an absolute zombie in the morning. She made sure to leave her alarm settled, and tried to have her last six hours of sleep, but ended up crying without knowing why. Sometimes that happened, but it was the first time Chloe wasn't there to help her out, so she ended up crying herself to sleep. She then woke up the first one in the morning, got ready quickly, and left for her meeting.

"My daughter Elizabeth, who you hit" Beca said at the meeting with the judge, the woman and both their lawyers "decided she isn't a person to judge, or to punish, and that in consequence she doesn't feel good punishing nobody. She said if you are a bad person, you'll root in hell, but she said you could go without a scratch, judging that my acts were enough revenge. But she did say also that it was only for this time." The looks of the adults were between tender and surprised "So with all your respects, your honor, lawyers… I've got a baby who needs me, so I'm gonna go."

In the meantime, Jesse and Aubrey had carried Aubrey to the hospital, and some of Chloe's siblings and Eva and Amelia stayed with the two Mitchells left.

"Mamma?" Beth sat on Chloe's lap, Noah had fallen asleep after a good time playing after breakfast.

"Yes sweetie?" Chloe asked kissing her head.

"I'm worried about momma."

"Why is that?" Chloe frowned seeing her daughter's concerned expression.

"I think she's very sad. Last night I woke up and went to your bed to sleep with her, and her cheeks were wet, and so was the pillow." Beth explained "I think she cried herself to sleep." Chloe grew worried. She had spoken with Beca and her face wasn't like she had just been crying. It must have happened afterwards "Would you talk to her to make sure she's okay?"

"Yes, I will" Chloe nodded "Don't worry sweetie, she probably was just thinking about her family and got sad, I'll make sure she's okay." Beth nodded.

"The replacement is here!" Beca announced happily entering the room. She was very pretty, with one of her favorite work suits and make up, and pretty well-dressed. Beca didn't usually dress particularly fancy for work, except when she had meetings, in which case, dresses and fancy suit jackets were usually used.

"Momma" Beth ran to her mom and Beca grinned crouching down and hugging her tight, kissing her face repeatedly.

"How's my second favorite ginger?"

"Pretty good, you?"

"Pretty good too. Your decision saved momma a bunch of time so I could be here earlier than I imagined. Hi!" she waved to Chloe's family, Jesse and Aubrey, and walked to the bed "How's the little hobbit?"

"He's good, he played until exhaustion came and he drank a quarter of baby bottle, which is pretty good considering" Chloe explained.

"Good" Beca kissed the sick boy on the cheek and then walked to Chloe and kissed her on the cheek "How did you sleep?"

"Awesomely thanks to your singing abilities" she was going to say vocal abilities, but didn't want Jesse to start joking around. Chloe smiled at Beca kissing her on the cheek "You?"

"Great, I fell asleep pretty soon after you" she removed her elegant jacket, leaving it carefully on the spare bed before grabbing an empty chair and sitting beside Chloe.

"Can I sit on your lap or will I ruin your pretty pants?" Beth asked coming to Beca, who chuckled.

"Since when do we care?" Beca kissed Beth's cheek as she sat on her and shrugged.

"Well, I'm gonna head home see the rest of the gang and sleep a bit" Chloe said standing up "I'll be back after lunch." She added kissing Beca.

"No problem, the two rebels and I will be okay" Beca smiled.

Beca and Beth contented with a couple sandwiches for lunch that Beth's grandparents bought them, and after they ate, Noah woke up and Beca patiently tried to give him some porridge.

"No? no more?" Beca frowned when Noah barely ate half of what he usually ate, if not less "I know, belly stuff bothers a lot uh?" Beca kissed Noah's cheek and left the food on the nightstand. Beth had fallen asleep, and Noah soon followed, so Beca entertained herself chatting with Sophie, Wyatt, Angela, Jesse, and Chloe's parents, who were the only ones there at that moment.

Soon after, Aubrey and Chloe arrived smiling happily.

"Did he ate?" Chloe asked Beca after kissing her and sitting next to her.

"Barely, but it's okay. Abdominal surgeries are always great bitches with the stomach" Beca shrugged knowingly.

"And… can I know why Beth noticed your cheeks were wet last night?" Chloe added lowering her voice. Beca nodded slowly understanding her little sneaky act had been caught perfectly well.

"It was nothing Chloe, one of those times you don't even know why you are crying" Beca replied and shrugged simply. Chloe nodded slowly in understanding "Everything is fine, really."

"If everything is fine, why would you even think about selling your mother's house?" Chloe asked softly, her eyes reflecting great desire for understanding.

"Chloe, you said not here, didn't you?" Beca sighed "Not here Chloe."

"Alright, then…" she pointed to the door with her thumb.

"What about Noah?" Beca asked.

"We'll be downstairs in the garden, and he's sleeping and everybody is here to call us if he needs us."

Beca shook her head and finally stood up, and Chloe followed.

"We'll be back in fifteen" Beca said with a tiny smile, and Chloe intertwined their hands as they left to the garden.

Once in the garden, they sat on a bench after making sure nobody was around them anywhere close.

"I don't wanna sell that house" Beca stated, and Chloe sighed in relief "It physically hurts me to even think about it, but Chloe, I can't help but think it's the right thing to do. Every time I step into that house, I'm immersed into hundreds of amazing memories and some not that good, every time is like coming home, like breathing, and also like drowning. I don't know how to explain it, but going in there hurts me too, and think about the memories bring me the biggest sadness." Chloe stared at her intently trying to understand and paying close attention in silence "And I just want to get rid of it, to not have anything that brings me so many hurtful memories, that I can't enjoy anymore. After a day there, I'm so overwhelmed that it hurts to breath, it's not even comforting like the first ten minutes can be. But selling it brings me the same mix of feelings, although I believe that maybe after some weeks, I'll be able to just let it go, not think about it, and not have to go back there anymore."

After a few seconds, Chloe took one of Beca's hands between hers on her lap.

"Becs, you're just hurting honey, and it's not gonna go away for selling a house, don't cheat yourself, it will only bother you more and more and you'll regret it so much. It's not ripping a bandage Becs, it's ripping the whole skin away" Chloe tugged a stray of brown hair behind her ear kindly. She spoke softly, lovingly "Also, I don't think you should make any big decisions when there hasn't even been a month since they died. You're going through a rough patch, and every decision you make now should be small and easy to regret and change, not big and life changing like selling that house Bec. Making decisions like that entirely with the heart is never a good idea."

"So you think I should wait?"

"Yes. We won't go there this year, and you won't put a foot into that house until you feel completely ready. If in a couple years you still want to sell it, we'll talk about it again, alright?"

"Okay" Beca nodded and sighed "Why does it feel like everything is always a rough path, Chlo? Because I haven't felt anything like easy since learning how to mix I believe."

"I know sweetie… but it's probably just temporary, okay? And if it's not, if it's just how things work with us… then, you are the strongest person I know, and I'll be right here with you every step of the way."

Beca sighed and smiled a bit, nodding before supporting her head on Chloe's shoulder while the ginger massaged her scalp tenderly and placed soft kisses on it. After some time, they headed back to the children's ward of the hospital and to Noah's room. Beth and Noah were on Noah's bed playing with some game that was about putting the right polygons into their holes, and Beth was showing Noah how to do it. Chloe went to talk with their friends and family and Beca sat on Noah's bed, on the edge.

"Beth, I've got good news kiddo." She said, and Beth looked up curiously "We're not going to sell grandma's house in Portland. Not in the next couple years at least." The girl's face lit and she hugged her mother tightly.

"Thank you!" Beca smiled patting her back.

"Hey Beca?" Wyatt called, and Beca turned around. The man was staring at his cell "Remember that Australian artist that you really wanted to collaborate with on something? Well, he just said yes! He said it would be a pleasure."

"Great! Did he mention when is he coming?"


	31. Chapter 31

By September, Noah was a healthy and happy little boy again who tried his best to learn to walk, and who loved everything like if he was a Beale more than a Mitchell. However, Beca and Chloe weren't in the best moment of their marriage, and Beca could sense it. September meant back to work, stress, tension, and basically having to accommodate their lives and preferences to other peoples' things. And the first thing that Beca and Chloe noticed was that they were incapable of leaving Noah alone anywhere, not even with his nanny.

"What do we do? I can't take it to class Beca" Chloe said stressfully. They had been in their bedroom, talking about the topic, for a long time and they still didn't know what to do.

"Maybe I can take him to work with me, alright?" Beca suggested. She was sitting on the bed with Noah on her lap playing with a stuffed animal while Chloe walked around the bedroom, too stressed to sit down "I can leave him on the carpet of my office playing while I work on my desk, and when I have to go to the studio, he can come with me and sit on my lap or something. It would be fun."

Chloe stopped walking and stared at her.

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked "I don't want to damage your job or your image with your clients."

"I don't give a…" she stopped eyeing Noah "about what people think about me carrying my son to work. Our other three kids have always loved coming with me to work, Noah will love it too, and plus, maybe people will find it cute. Many people do. And Chloe, think about it, if we do it this way, you don't have to worry, I don't have to worry, and you can work perfectly fine."

"Okay" Chloe nodded and smiled "You're a savior Beca Mitchell."

"I know" Beca chuckled and Chloe leaned taking her face between her hands and smashing their lips together gently, getting into a lingering kiss.

A couple of days later, the school year started, and with that, the whole house emptied in the morning. Beca was the last one to leave, Noah against her hip, and her laptop bag and Noah's bag on her shoulders, keys in hand.

" _Avery, Billie-Jean_ , be nice guys! Take care of the palace!" Beca joked opening the front door.

One hour later, she was sitting in the studio with Noah and his reindeer on her lap, her fingers attached to the sound editing table and her eyes fixed on the artist behind the window in front of her.

"What do you think Noah?" Beca smiled seeing how Noah was staring at her dazed "Okay, Giselle, from the start!"

Not long after, she was back at her office for some paperwork, Noah sitting on the carpet by her sofa surrounded with his toys while her mother sat on the desk. She was getting frustrated with a track that wasn't sounding like the productions Beca usually made, and it was frustrating, because she had had the same problem with every single musical thing she had tried to work with, in the last couple months. And the frustration only aggravated her anxiety and that feeling right below her sternum that she had been having since burying her family in the summer, a feeling of unease, discomfort, sadness, anguish. She massaged her chest with her hand and breathed deeply, leaning back on her chair and removing her headphones for a minute. She looked at Noah, who seemed happy and was making motor sounds with his mouth while playing with some cars Micah had gifted him. Then, her eyes moved to a framed picture on her desk. It was one of her wedding day, the typical photograph of each bride's side of the family, so this one had her with Addie in her arms and a huge smile on her face, Alan on her other side with a hand on her back and a happy face, and Sheila hugging his other arm with hers. She had been so mad with Sheila when she insulted her mother's dress, but she made Addie and her dad so happy she would've done anything to save her. She would've give the entire building she was at to save Sheila.

Tears came to her eyes and she blinked them away angrily, before opening her laptop, that was closed because she had a computer MAC installed on her desk and she had been working with it. On her laptop, she had folders and folders with photographs from her whole life she had been gathering for years. In one of those folders, titled 1996, there was a photo of three year old Beca posing with eight year old Joseph. Beca looked surprised and curious, and Joseph confident and sneaky. He was chuckling with an arm around Beca's shoulders and a dinosaur toy on his other hand. That's where Micah's love for dinosaurs came from, Joseph was a history teacher, and as a kid, he loved runes, dinosaurs, and anything with more than fifty years. She saw a folder that didn't have a lot of years and in that folder, she found a video and cliqued it after settling her headphones back on. She had a bittersweet smile as she recognized the video. It was a video of Joseph's wedding party, where she had been the DJ, and she had made the video from her spot as a DJ, and showed Joseph and Alan dancing ridiculously with Kendra, the three really drunk –and Beca hadn't been much more sober than then either- then she saw another video and clicked.

"Hi Becs!" Joseph was recording himself with his phone, and his grin occupied half the screen "Guess who decided to come to the world!" he moved the phone and pointed to Kendra, that was grinning with a messy bum and a tired expression, lying on a bed holding something between her arms. Beca gulped a sob and covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes fixed on the screen. Joseph nearer the camera until she could clearly see a cute little baby breastfeeding "We named him Jack! Jack Finley Mitchell, and he would love to meet his favorite aunt and godmother ever! Can you manage?" he sat next to Kendra, and they both smiled at the camera "Let us know! We love you lots! Bye!" they said the _bye_ extending the syllables and with such enthusiasm. The video finished and Beca broke into tears. That video had now twelve years. Noah heard his mom grow upset, Beca having crossed her arms on the table while crying into them, and he crawled towards her, using her chair to support himself and stand up on his feet.

"Momma!" Beca looked at him, and smiled when he frowned "Momma!" Beca sat him on her lap.

"I'm sorry Noah" she said tearfully "I'm sorry I can't be who you need me to be, and who mamma and everybody else need me to be."

On their way home, Beca's mind was in a hundred places at the same time while she walked through the streets of Norfolk. It was rush hour, and she had caught two traffic jams so far, when she just got into the third one. She huffed.

"Come on!" she said through grilled teeth, Noah was sleeping on his children chair. After twenty eternal minutes of waiting and a text to let Chloe know the traffic was a mess, she finally got space to keep going, and fastened her velocity, hurrying quickly and still respecting the speed limits, but barely. A car then passed right in front of her through her road, following its own road, and she stopped so abruptly her chest hurt from the seatbelt, her neck hurt, and Noah started crying. She had missed a traffic light "Crap!" she palmed her forehead and then kept driving trying to be calmer and better driver "I'm so sorry Noah, I'm sorry my love, I'm sorry. Momma missed a traffic light because her brain is still on vacation honey." Beca excused looking at her crying child through the rear mirror. Then she felt some stinging and when she looked down, she saw the seat belt had made a small diagonal cut on her scalp, and she frowned "Crap" she whispered seeing the blood, and, stopping on a red light, she looked for a tissue, and used it to press it against the cut, cleaning the seat belt from the blood too. With her other hand, she drove until they got home, and by then, Beca's nerves were on the edge, and her head pounded from Noah's cries. She took the boy in her arms and rocked him kissing his face "It's okay honey, you are fine, you didn't hurt yourself, that chair of yours is as safe as it can be."

Beca got into the living room, where Chloe was already putting the things to eat, and the children were already gathered around it. They greeted Beca with a quick hug before sitting down, and Chloe gave her a peek and stroke Noah's hair. He wasn't crying anymore but his face was still red and his eyes wet.

"What happened?" Chloe asked looking at the boy.

"I had to make an abrupt stop with the car, you know, with the damn traffic" Beca explained "He was sleeping and I woke him up." She kissed his forehead and sat him on his chair so he could eat his soup.

"Oh, what a bad luck" Chloe kissed her lips "I'm sorry. I made your favorite food if that… what happened to you?" she eyed the cut on her scalp.

"It's nothing, the seat belt did it when I stopped. But it's superficial" Beca explained, and Chloe nodded slowly.

"Well, you better sit for a bit and relax then" Chloe kissed her again, and went to get the final things from the kitchen "How was the morning with Noah?"

"Very good, entertaining, we had fun." Beca replied "I can get used to it."

Calm weeks passed, those were very nice weeks, perfect if it wasn't for Beca's musical frustrations, because the girl had been having trouble finding her sound again. One day, she got a phone call while she was sitting on her office floor, playing with Noah, who sat between her legs, while she tried to find some inspiration.

"Beca Mitchell" she said into the phone.

"Beca, it's Harvey Walker, you sent me an email several months ago" an Australian accent spoke. Beca's heart almost went out. Harvey Walker was an Australian DJ and songwriter in his sixties that was quite famous around the world and that Beca had admired ever since she was a teen, her father admired Walker quite a lot too. He was her idol, and she had emailed him before the summer while being in the brave point of her celebratory drinking during her tour, to ask to collaborate with him in something. It was a dream for her. He had a deep, slightly raspy voice, very manly.

"Mr. Walker! Yeah, hi, yeah, it's me, I'm Beca" she said nervously "Sorry sir" she cleared her voice "So, you read my email?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I took so long to call you back" he said kindly "I've been quite busy. So… I read your propose, I liked it. Actually Beca, I like you work a lot."

Beca came home earlier that day, because it was Elizabeth's birthday and they were hosting a small party with some of their friends. She chose to not tell Chloe anything that day, and instead, enjoyed the day. Beca had found in her dad's house the guitar he had bought for Beth, and when they gave it to Chloe telling her it was from her grandpa Alan, the girl cried for half an hour. The next day, however, Beca knew it was the right moment. Beca waited, however, until the kids were that afternoon playing in the toys room and Chloe was upstairs in the attic, working.

"Knock knock!" Beca smiled opening the attic's door. Chloe looked up and smiled.

"What's up dork?" Chloe asked and Beca chuckled.

"I… wanted to talk with you about some work stuff I have, if you're up for it?" Beca asked sitting on the sofa that was there. Chloe nodded.

"Sure, I was needing a break here" she sat beside Beca with a tiny smile "Tell me, what's up?"

"Remember Harvey Walker?" Beca asked and Chloe chuckled.

"That amazing Australian artist you used to send fan mail of back in high school? Of course I do."

"Well, when we were touring in Germany, and celebrating and getting really drunk, the beers and the success encouraged me to email him again suggesting we worked together on a new album. I thought he wouldn't reply, so I forgot about it. But…"

"No way!" Chloe grinned and slapped Beca's knee "He's answered didn't he?!" Beca grinned blushing in excitement, and nodded "No way! Seriously? Spill the beans!"

"He was excited about it, really excited. He called me yesterday morning actually, but I wanted to have a proper conversation when it was a good time for it. Well, the thing is, he really wants to work with me, he says he admires my work Chlo" she was so happy she was almost in tears, and Chloe, sensing her excitement and happiness after the many weeks she had seen her sad and frustrated about her family and her lack of inspiration, was now grinning with her eyes too, with her whole self, with eyes wet of happiness for her wife , too "He said he was very impressive with me, that he thought I had so much talent and so much to give, that I was doing a really good job and that he didn't miss a concert, but went you know, with costumes to not drag attention. He was so kind, and enthusiastic… the thing is, he told me he's thinking about retiring, but he felt very sad because he has no children, and nobody interested in his music to teach, because he has so much to teach, techniques, way of working, so much! And he told me, he would really love to have some time to teach me some stuff so I could improve. He was willing to pay me, Chlo! but I said I was hallucinating, that I would do anything for him for free, that it was my honor… well, you can imagine how I got once I recovered from the impression!" Chloe chuckled and Beca grinned "We were talking for a long time, and at the end, I told him that I had actually been feeling kind of lost with music, like I lost my sound, like music had become so much about what the clients want, what the companies want, what the public wants, and about having to fight to have time to do my own music for myself and not for clients or anybody else, and I spoke to him about the lack of inspiration I was having, and he said then it would be good for the two of us. He offered to have me as a pupil for around two months or something like that, he told me he would teach me everything he knows, and help me, and that it would be like a little retreat, just getting away of the spotlight for a bit and getting to learn, to do so much, work on music together… it was amazing Chloe, I can't even express it." Beca smiled looking at her knees "I even spoke with Wyatt about it and he said he would do whatever it was necessary to get me to do it, that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, that I couldn't deny it."

"That's really amazing Bec, I'm so very proud of you baby" Chloe smiled starting a lingering kiss softly, and Beca smiled against her lips.

"There's a but" Beca said pulling apart, and Chloe smiled.

"I figured."

"I have to move to Australia for those months, starting in a week" Chloe's face dropped "Mr. Walker is too old to take such long flights back and forth anymore and he also said that part of the idea to help me out was a change of environment, learn from other cultures, get inspiration in another places, another people, another way of life, and Australian's music history. He told me I could borrow one of his houses, in Melbourne, by the beach and he lived close by, and he said you and the children could come too, and even our pets, because I told him of course I couldn't just go and leave you alone with three toddlers, a baby and two pets. And then I told him the kids have school, and you your job, and it wasn't that easy, but he said, you could come anytime, weekends or whenever, that he would pay jets if he had to. He was really nice. I… I said I would seriously think about it, that I really, really wanted to go, but that I needed to talk with my family first. He gave me his cell phone number so I could call him anytime."

Chloe was staring at her with a face she had never seen in all the years of knowing Chloe. She was pale, her lips were slightly parted, her eyebrows a bit furrowed, and her eyes wet.

"Bec…" Chloe shook her head, rubbing her mouth with her hand while staring at the bookshelf in front of them, thoughtful. She looked like she was really trying to find a way to make Beca's dream possible, but at the same time Beca knew she was asking for a lot and Chloe was also angry for that "How…" her shoulders slumped "You know we can't go with you. Noah's one, he can't go through such a long flight, and be in a country so different to us, with such different weather, and the animal life there is crazy. And Kai, Micah and Elizabeth have school, I have school and I've just spent a year without working, we can't leave right now. Can't you go in the summer Bec?"

"In our summer, is winter there Chlo. He flies to see family and friends around the globe" Beca replied "I already suggested other options, but he's a very busy man. He cleaned his schedule these months specially for me. Look, I know I'm asking for a lot" Beca emphasized _a lot_ "But I will never have this chance again, Chloe, and right now I really need it, I'm drowning. I've lost my sound, I've lost my inspiration, I've forgotten why I got into the business in the first place. Do you know what it is to have to work for clients, for a public, for a media, because if they don't like you, you lose your job? Even in this last tour I was pressured and stressed to do stuff with my music I don't usually do, but people liked them so…" she shrugged "It's the first time in ages I'm gonna do something only for myself and to myself, I have the opportunity to learn so much, to grow… I mean, if you had the chance to meet Chopin, wouldn't you want to? It's a huge good thing for me Chlo, we know those don't happen often… It'll be just two months Chlo, it's not that much, you guys will be entertained with work and school and Wyatt swore I could go calm and he would take care of stuff from home so he didn't have to leave his newborn either, and Angela is there too, and willing to do whatever it takes. We'll have skype, social networks, and so many ways to talk in the meantime, and there is sixteen hours more than here, but we'll manage to call each other. It's like a retirement, I won't have to fight to have time to talk with you."

"Beca, I'm not worried about any of that" Chloe said "I know how important this is to you baby, I know how much you need it, and believe me you don't know how much I want to help, but…" she shook her head "You miss just a week of Noah's life and he grows ten centimeters and maybe learns a new word or to walk, and you would miss it. You're gonna miss two months of his life, for God's sakes, they are all going to miss you so much! And it's not only Noah Beca, they're all learning and growing so much at this age, is when you can close your eyes for just two minutes and then miss a whole bunch of important stuff. Yeah, technologies are there but… still, it's not being in person, actually witnessing, actually being 24/7, singing them to sleep, hugging them, everything that parenting is. And you are willing to do that? You seriously are that egoistic?"

"Egoistic?" Beca looked surprised and hurt "When have I been egoistic in all the days of our marriage Chloe? When have I not cared about my family, not done everything for our children, for you? I'm asking this one thing Chloe! And it's for me, it's for my health it's for…"

"For God sakes Beca, I'm the first one to care about your health, but you have a doctor, you have a therapist, you have us! We are here for you, you don't need to go to another continent to feel better."

"I know Chlo, but it's not just about that, it's about learning, it's about growing as a musician, it's about following my passions, who I am" Beca explained "Harvey could help me so much, could teach me a lot, could help me find my sound, remember my passion and the reason I do what I do for a living… Chloe I know I'll miss a lot, but I'm doing this to be better in all the ways that a person can improve, including as a mother and a wife. I'm investing on myself, I'm improving myself, I'm having a huge personal and professional opportunity and I know I'm gonna miss stuff, but those things happen Chloe, nobody likes it but I'm gonna come here as much as I can, and send stuff here, and call every day several times, you won't even have time to miss me."

"Beca, we would always miss you, you don't even know how they were when you were in the hospital, they cried so much, and they will do now even more, and you'll be the reason!" Chloe stood walking around, too nervous and tense to sit down "I want you to improve too, and to learn and everything else, but aren't there any other ways that don't need you to move across the world? Because I'm sure there are, I'm sure if you insisted, maybe in a couple summers he could clear them for you, at the end he loves you so much right? I bet he would love to do that" Chloe said, raising her voice a bit in frustration "Who's gonna help me take care of the house, two pets, four kids that young, myself, work…?" she huffed "I'll be here stressed as fuck and you would be in the beach making music in the meantime… how do you think that makes me feel? When our children cry because they miss you, how do you think we are going to feel? And we just decided you would take Noah to work, what do we do now, Beca? what do we do with Noah? Because I can't take him home, and I'm not about to leave him without us for the first time now because you don't wanna push harder and try to get another chance instead of going to the beach in what, by the way, is colds and illnesses season here!" she ended up yelling pointing at the floor with rage at the last word, and piercing Beca's eyes with her watery ones.

Beca sighed deeply rubbing her face with her hands, breathing deeply for a moment before standing up and taking Chloe's hands. They both had watery eyes.

"Chloe, I know this is the worst time to leave, with the holidays, the illnesses, the snow and everything else. I know there is so much we need to figure out before I go if I go, and I know it's going to be very stressing and exhausting couple months for you, I know I'm asking too much entirely and I feel awful for doing this. Believe me, I do, and I wouldn't ask for this if I didn't need it so much" Beca said, and Chloe sighed looking pleadingly at her "If our family really can't let me go, then I won't, because all of you come first, but I'm asking you to please, please consider it. Wyatt can't offer to help with the children because they just had number two, but Angela and Amelia are willing to help any way they can, and we have to let Noah go. I know it hurts, it kills me to ever think about it, but Jesse's right, he has sixteen months Chlo, we need to back off a little, or it will be awful to him to get used to not always have us around when we just can't be."

"Bec, you know I would do anything for you, but this is just too much, I'm too overwhelmed to even… this is too much. You go, you miss Thanksgiving, you probably miss Christmas, and you miss two months of them growing, improving as persons, learning new stuff…"

"I know, I'll have to risk it and sacrifice it" Beca shrugged "it's not something that makes me happy, but it's necessary. Noah caught me crying today, Beth did the other day, many times I don't even know why I even cry Chloe. I have anxiety, I'm not doing my job properly, and I don't need antidepressants, I don't need a therapist to tell me what's wrong, I know what I need. I need this. I need going away for just a bit, getting away from stuff, learning new things, breathing new airs, experiencing new and wonderful things, and renewing myself. I need to focus on my music and my passions because they are what keeps me sane, and because If I don't, thinks will start going down little by little. I don't want to miss Noah's first sentences, or walks, or any other thing that's probably going to happen while I'm out, but I can't keep having them or you or anybody else worrying for me, I can't keep failing at my job and wondering why do I do anything."

"I just wish there was another way…"

"There probably is. Another year… but then it would be late for me. I'm picking myself up before I fall" Beca shrugged "I need your support as my family Chlo. You're all I have and I'm gonna miss you all so incredibly much… but I have to do this. I have to find myself again."

"It's gonna be really hard Beca" Chloe whispered stroking Beca's hands with her thumbs "But we'll do it for you. We are a family, you've done a lot for us, if you need us to do this then…" she nodded "we will. We'll be okay." Beca smiled, and Chloe kissed her.

"I'm gonna thank you so hard" Beca said against her lips before hugging her and lifting her up from the ground, going round and round while Chloe chuckled.

The children were harder to talk with, and there were tantrums and stuff, but finally, they all agreed. Well, Noah didn't understand a single thing, but he nodded anyway. A few days later –and many loving sessions in bed between the wives- it was time for Beca to go. She had two big suitcases, her laptop bag, and a handbag ready, and she couldn't believe she was to need so many things for two months, but Chloe had insisted in her putting more underwear, or more t-shirts, and a thousand products for mosquitoes and other insects, plus books that were more like survival books. They were in the airport to get her to her plane, that left after dinner one day of October.

"You're gonna miss Halloween momma" Beth commented as they sat waiting for Beca to be called on board of the jet she was flying in and that was one of Harvey Walker's jets.

"I know baby" Beca kissed Beth's temple. She had Beth and Noah sitting on her lap, and Kamara and Micah were on Chloe's lap next to them "Help mamma with everything you can, just like we talked, remember? And send me pics with your cool costume, what is gonna be this year again?"

"Superwoman" Beth replied supporting her head on Beca's chest just like Noah.

"God, you're gonna be the prettiest superwoman the world has ever seen" Beca smiled rubbing her shoulder with a hand. She hated leaving, but she knew it was for the best. She knew the six of them were sad and with knots in their throats, so she tried to smile as much as possible.

"Come back soon okay momma?" Beth asked "For Christmas at least?"

"I'll do my very best honey. Send me emails everyday okay? Or call me, whatever you want" Beca asked "All of you!" she added looking at the others "And don't grow up too much, I want Noah still in diapers by the time I come back."

"Momma" Noah hugged her, and Beca kissed his head.

"I'll be back soon buddy, I love you too much to go for too long." Beca promised.

"Call every day okay?" Chloe whispered leaning to kiss Beca.

Soon after, Beca was called to board in, and they walked to the security control.

"This is it" Beca turned to her family and managed a little smile. They looked like if somebody had killed Santa Claus in their living room. Chloe had Noah against her hip, Kamara hugged to her leg, and Micah and Beth stood next to them. They all looked sad and disappointed.

"Momma, don't go!" Kamara asked.

"Sweetie" Beca smiled sadly dropping her bags and kneeling in front of her taking her tiny hands "I have to go, so when I come back, I'll be much better, I'll be like momma three point cero. I love you, okay? I promise I'll be back before your birthday. It's not that long really."

"Okay…" Kamara shrugged and hugged her "I love you too." Beca smiled stroking her hair and hugging her tightly before kissing her cheek and then brought Micah and Beth closer "You three need to be very good with mamma, with each other, and to help as much as you can. You all are old enough to help out a bit, and to take care of your little brother. Understood?" The three nodded "Perfect. I'll be back soon and I'll be bringing Christmas presents, promise. Now give me love!" the three hugged her tightly and she hugged them even tighter, and kissed them "I love you my midgets." She stood up and Chloe and her exchanged a sad smile. Beca took Noah up in her arms and hugged him tightly "You're gonna have to be a big boy and learn to be with your mom's friends alone for a bit from time to time, okay?" she kissed his cheek "I love you so much Noah, I would never leave you if it wasn't for the best" she whispered into his ear "I'll take you in my arms again very soon again sweetie, I promise." She then stared at Chloe, who muffled a sniffle. Beca hugged her tightly with one arm.

"We've never been apart this long in ten years" Chloe whispered into her ear "even less without medical reasons."

"I know, but I'm gonna be here soon, and we are going to talk everyday" Beca promised.

"I'm gonna miss you so much."

"I'll miss you all too. I promise I do this because I really need to."

"I know" when they pulled apart, their eyes were watery "Let's rip the bandage, shall we?" they got together in a lingering, tender kiss, and when they pulled apart, they were breathless. Beca gave Noah back to Chloe, and took her bags and suitcases again. She stepped back and smiled sadly looking at her family. She was going to miss them like crazy. She rubbed her eyes and smiled again at them. The three older kids had stood as closer to Chloe's legs as they cold, and held each other.

"Bye mom" Micah said sadly, and Beca smirked revolving his hair one last time.

"Not bye son, never bye. See you soon. We'll all see each other soon." She said looking at everybody "Love you, take care and I'm serious, I don't want anybody sick!"

She turned back, and through the security itinerary, never looking back until all her things and herself had passed the security control and she had put her shoes and belt on again, after having to remove them for the control. She smiled back, and blew a kiss to them, waving with her hand. They waved back. Chloe breathed deeply as a tear fell down her cheek, and kissed Noah's temple while watching Beca disappear behind a corner. That was going to be a rough two months.


	32. Chapter 32

Beca took twenty four hours to get to Melbourne-Tullamarine Airport, even in a private jet. It was one of the worst flights she could remember, not enough things to entertain herself, too much sea under her feet were they could fall and die, too many hours sitting, too much time to miss her family and cry in the bathroom. When she arrived Melbourne, it was ten at night in Norfolk, which meant sixteen hours more in Melbourne, meaning when she arrived, in Melbourne it was two in the afternoon and also, spring. That wasn't only a big jetlag, but her brain was crazy now. She came from a place where it was autumn and cold, to a sunny place, where jackets started going off before she even reunited with her suitcases in the airport. She was exhausted and disconcerted. Also, she had missed like forty hours of her life? She didn't know, her math went crazy, but at least that made Harvey, who was picking her up, laugh. She couldn't believe she was in the same car of Harvey Walker, and that he was picking her up. It was awesome.

"This place is amazing" Beca said, hallucinating, with her nose stick to the window of the car. Harvey smiled sitting on the driver seat next to her "I can't believe this is happening."

"Yeah, right? We'll go to the more lost places of Melbourne though" the man explained with his Australian accent "I live in a house by the beach, private beach, and your house is close by, in the same beach, you can come walking in twenty minutes. You also have a car waiting at your place that you can use as you wish. You can go everywhere you want, whenever you want, but allow me to invite you to spend your lunches and dinners with me and my family, it's that alright?"

"Are you kiddin'? It's amazing Harvey, it's too amazing" he had insisted that she called him Harvey and not Mr. Walker "What were you planning for uhm… my retreat?"

"Well, you still want my help, right? By the things you've been telling me, it looks like things are pretty bad and you really need a break, right?" Beca nodded eagerly "We'll take things slow then, we have time. We can start with playing some music at my place in the afternoons, walking around the beach, doing tourism, I'll show you everything there is to see in Melbourne, so you can relax and sink in our culture. Then, I had been planning on teaching you surf, go to the Great Victoria Desert for a week, and to the jungles and woods for another week, so you can get lost a little and learn survival skills honey!"

"Really?" Beca's eyes widened.

"Really" the man smiled "You've never done that, right?"

"I was in the African Savannah, but that's it" Beca explained.

"That's good. Don't worry thought, I've done all of it countless times, I could do it with my eyes closed by now."

After the first three weeks in Australia, Beca was feeling much better. Harvey's family was amazing and the food was awesome, and the city was amazing too, although she did miss her family a lot. With sixteen hours of difference, it was very hard to get to call home, and Chloe never called her because she couldn't know what would she be doing, but they emailed each other every night, and so did the Mitchell children. Beca and Chloe set that the only decent times they could take or receive calls were from six in the morning to eleven at night, both included, unless it was the weekends, when they could be up late at night to take calls at different hours. They made their schedules, and discovered that calls made in Norfolk from 12PM to 6AM would be answered in Melbourne from 4PM to 11PM, those hours included too, of course; if they called Beca from 8AM to 1PM, Beca would answer the phone from 12PM to 6AM; if they called Beca between 4PM and 11PM, it would be between 8AM and 1PM in Melbourne. And it was the opposite if was Beca who called, meaning if for example Beca called Chloe from 8AM to 1PM, in Norfolk it would be from 4PM to 11PM. So those hours were only available in the weekends because even if for one of them there was no problem, the other would have to avoid falling asleep. So, during the other five days of the weeks, they could only call or be called at 6AM, 7AM, 2PM, 3PM, 10PM and 11PM, because calls made at those times would be received at those times, and those were all normal, and good times to call or be called during the week. But if you had in count that Chloe had to work, you could see she couldn't call at 6AM or 7AM, unless it was the quickest of calls, which meant, Beca couldn't call her at 2PM or 3PM. So that left Beca with only four hours to call her family during the weeks, so in the weekends, calls always went crazy and in sleepless nights, and they didn't care. Chloe wouldn't have cared about not sleeping for Beca during the week, but Beca was firm with her getting enough sleep, because she had work, she had to take care of four children who drained her, help them with homework, do her own homework, and she also had to do house tasks and take care of herself because it was the season when colds started.

That Saturday, a month after arriving Australia, Beca was calling Chloe at six in the morning, Melbourne time, which meant it was 10PM of a Friday in Norfolk. Of a day Beca had already lived, which was enough to get a headache, but also gave place to a thousand jokes with the children, that had it very hard to understand the time difference –not that their mothers found it easy either- and tended to joke about Beca being in the future, and sometimes asked things like "mom, it's tomorrow going to rain?". Beca had barely just opened her eyes, when she took her laptop, and Skyped Chloe.

"Good morning love!" Chloe grinned at her. Beca saw Chloe had set her laptop on their lunch table, and the children greeted her too while eating, very happy to have her on the table.

"Hey! Bon appétit!" Beca smiled sleepily "What are you guys eating?"

"Noah knows" Beth smiled at her brother.

"Pasta!" Noah yelled, making the rest laugh.

"That's a new word! Congrats son!" Beca grinned.

"Pasta momma! I like pasta!" Noah yelled, shaking his fork with spaghetti in the air. Beca laughed and the kids chuckled. The children were in their pajamas already, and they were all having dinner. Chloe wasn't in her pajamas yet, but she was wearing house clothes, like sweatpants and stuff.

"He's saying sentences now?" Beca's mouth formed an _o_ and his eyes opened a lot.

"Well, he said it when he took the first bite because he's your son and couldn't be otherwise" Chloe giggled "It's his first sentence, and the only one I think. This is the fourth time he says it, I think. I was going to call you twenty minutes ago to tell you, but I didn't want to wake you up too early. Six is early enough."

"Aw, I'm so proud Noah" Beca smiled.

"Are you staying in bed today momma?" Kamara asked.

"No" Beca sat up on her bed "I just woke up, but I should maybe go make breakfast." She took the laptop and stood up "Oh, fuck! Huge spider here misters!" she moved the laptop and smiled when disgusting noises came from it as they eyes the spider that was on Beca's wall.

"That's a spider? But mom, that could eat you!" Micah yelled.

"Yeah, it's like a giant crab! What are you going to do?"

"Well, it's for sure going to die, I don't want to share my bed with that" Beca replied looking at them without keeping an eye off the spider "Everything here is twice as big. Spiders, mosquitoes… and everything kills. Huge sharks, huge poisonous jellyfishes, here are more murderers in animal life only than Guantanamo" Beca sighed. The spider wouldn't move now, but Beca had already had some scary encounters with them –she hadn't even pulled things out of her suitcase, just in case- and they jumped, bite, some were really poisonous, and even if Harvey had spent three hours teaching her all about them, she was really scared of her. This spider looked quite bad and was as big as one of Beca's shoes "Honestly, I don't know what to do. For this one, water is nothing." Beca sighed.

"Didn't you say they jump?" Chloe asked.

"Yes" Beca said "And run like bitches. I'm scared. At least I haven't seen snakes around yet… well, Harvey says that there are generally less spiders and snakes and other horrible animals by the beach, that's why he lives here. I swear, for a week I was afraid of getting my feet off the bed with these bastards… they get in shoes, and kitchen stuff, and bathroom. Children of f…" she stood up carefully eyeing the spider "Okay people, scream if the bitch moves, I'm gonna get some insecticide." She came after a minute with a big spray, and, moving as far away as she could with the spray still reaching the spider, she opened a window next to the spider, and sprayed it until the spider ran out of the house and she quickly closed the window "I spray every night and every morning, the whole house. I hate them."

"Honey, next time ask for a retreat in Alaska, where it's too cold for anything to be alive to kill you" Chloe laughed "So kids, now you won't be as scared of our spiders, right?"

"Those little things? Nah" Beth smiled.

"Okay, I'm gonna have breakfast now" Beca chuckled moving with the laptop to the kitchen. She then settled it on the table and started bringing things to make toast "So how was your day?"

"I made a new friend! Her name is Ashley and she's from Ohio" Kamara said "She's really nice and we played chase together in school. Then we picked Noah up from Wyatt house, and they invited us for lunch, which you now because you called then… and then… we came home, and we made homework, and saw a movie, and then mamma took us to the park, and then we were just chilling here until dinner."

"I won a soccer match during recess" Micah smiled "And the toys you sent us came today and we played during the afternoon, and I played chase with _Avery_ , but she won" he pointed to the cat that was by the sofa not quite far away "So I played with my dinosaurs, and we saw a movie about penguins, and mamma taught us the solar system because Beth is studying it."

"I passed a test with the top mark! And mamma bought me cookies to celebrate my efforts." Beth explained "And yeah, we learned the solar system and it's so amazing mom, all the planets, and the sun! And since mamma is a teacher, she explained it so well, which is awesome because I've got an exam of that next week, but I'm doing pretty good. And Noah was playing all day with Wyatt and his family. Did you have a great time Noah?" Noah nodded eagerly and smiled getting a hand full of cut spaghetti into his mouth with a grin.

"And I gave three pretty good classes, one of them was an exam, and then spent another couple hours correcting exams and doing paperwork" Chloe continued. Beca nodded with a smile listening to them while sitting in front of the laptop getting her toasts ready "Then yeah, we talked to you at lunch and it was quite nice lunch, Susan is getting very big and cute, and Noah loves her, and then we went to the park and the children played and watched a movie while I finished some work stuff."

"It looks like a great morning for everyone then." Beca said happily.

"What are you going to do today mom?" Beth asked staring at her.

"I'm gonna spend some time here talking with you guys now, and then I'm gonna shower and get dressed, and I'm gonna walk around the beach towards Harvey's house, and we are going to go buy stuff because tomorrow he wants to take me on a trip. And then we're gonna have lunch at his place like usual, but I'll manage to call you guys and say good morning! Or at least mom since you should be sleeping at that time" she grinned at the thought "And then, I'll probably go with Harvey to walk around the beach and maybe work on something I'm composing or something like that." Beca explained "And we'll do some yoga and surf probably, I'm still trying to learn it. And I'll call again tonight, so we can talk some more while you guys have lunch right?" The family nodded.

"What trip are you going in tomorrow mom?" Beth asked.

"Oh, yeah, I actually have to talk about it with you guys. So Harvey has planned that we go to the jungle for a week, he want to do a route he has done multiple times apparently, so we need to buy all kinds of crazy stuff and I've read a whole book about that jungle" she waved a tiny book she had close to her on the table. Her family was staring at her with faces between surprise and worry "It's not a super dangerous thing, I'm going with experts, Harvey and his wife Ellie have done it many times, and then we go with a couple friends more that are also experts on going there and actually work as guides for tourists." With that, her family seem to relax "It should be fun. But of course in the jungle I don't have a way to call you, so… it will be kind of impossible. But I'll call on Sunday the minute I get back, because it will be Saturday for you, and I'll call before going on Monday morning, because it's Sunday for you so it should be fine?"

"Yeah, sure" Chloe smiled at her "Have a nice time Bec!"

"Momma, are you going to meet Tarzan?" Kamara asked, and Beca chuckled.

"I'm not sure honey, but I'll say hi from you if I do!" Beca smiled at her "I'm probably going to meet a bunch of spiders and crocodiles and jellyfishes, but I'll be crazy careful."

"We'll miss you even more momma" Micah said with a sad half smile.

"I'll miss you too honey, I miss you all like crazy. But I promise we'll do a lot of fun things when I get back home, okay? I'll make sure to be there for the holidays."

The jungle or rainforest for Beca ended up being much more than what she expected. First, they entered through the river, dressed especially for the occasion, and there were some crocodiles they had to avoid, and jellyfishes. The many posters around told Beca the place was crazy dangerous. But she learnt to search for water on plants, to resist crazy amounts of hotness, and fear snakes and spiders to the point of yelling. Next to them, she didn't mind crocodiles so much, and they always stood very far away from them, so they wouldn't see the group. Also, rivers were absolutely forbidden to get into, so they couldn't use them for coldness. There, you really had to be badass and hardcore to survive, and Beca learnt a lot. That night, Beca couldn't sleep with all the sounds of the jungle. Despite it being somehow an amazing trip, when Sunday came, after three days of intense rain in the jungle, and being somehow hungry despite having brought some food, Beca was more than ready to go back home. It was probably ironic that she survived the jungle without many scratches, and then with the joke life is, it was when they arrived, exhausted, the Walker's house in time for dinner that Harvey and Ellie's kids had already done –they had two sons that were in their thirties and one of them even had a daughter that was like Beth's age- and she blindly threw herself on the guests' bed –despite she having her own house, she had a guests bed there just in case one day the party they had with dinner and stuff ran long- not seeing a spider, that bite the lower part of her back. She yelled, and before asking for help, she fainted.

When she woke up, she was lying shirtless on her bed, face down, and she felt pain were she had been bitten, and sweat ran across her face. She felt expert hands applying stuff on her back, and she looked to see she had been bitten on the back of her hip. She felt somehow dizzy, but she was alive, so she felt relief.

"Dad, she's awake" one of Harvey's sons said smiling at Beca. The hands she was feeling moved, and Harvey smiled at her.

"Hey! You have to be more careful kid! Apparently my granddaughter left the window open and a little buddy came in. Don't worry, it's one of our most common and most inoffensive, their poison only leaves one a bit like a really bad hangover for a couple days. I gave you the antidote, you'll be perfect in a couple days."

"Great" Beca said hoarsely "You healed it?"

"Sure! Did I mention my grandfather was an aborigine? We know all sort of tricks and stuff. And my daughter in law is a doctor, so you should be more than fine."

"Awesome, thanks. I'll be more careful next time" Beca felt exhausted, between that and the rain forest they had just come from… but she had to call Chloe. Oh shit, Chloe. "Shit, what time is it?"

"Nine" Harvey's son said staring at his watch.

"I gotta call my wife soon, I gotta get to the house" Beca said sitting up, then getting dizzy, and lying down again.

"Wow, careful there honey" Harvey's charming wife smiled motherly at her pushing her back to the bed "You have time for showering and changing clothes, I'll go bring you some from the house and you can change here. I'll also bring your laptop, so you can sleep here tonight and talk with your love without a problem. You also have to eat some, uh?"

"You're amazing Ellie, thank you" Beca smiled. Then, she felt the urge to throw up.

. . .

After throwing up in the bathroom, a shower, changing and having a small dinner, because she couldn't bear more, she felt good enough to walk back home, although Harvey went with her just in case she fainted and was alone, and then, she changed into her pajamas and lied on her bed –Harvey had inspected the whole house and kicked out a few spiders while she changed, to make sure she could rest without a problem, and he also made sure everything was well closed before leaving- with her laptop, calling Chloe. It was lunchtime there, so she wasn't surprised when the lunch table appeared in front of her filled with food and four children eating.

"Mamma, everything ready!" Beth shouted staring at the kitchen.

"Hi mom! How was the jungle? Did you meet Tarzan? Did you got sick and that's why you look so pale?" Micah asked smiling. Chloe heard that and ran, sitting on her seat next to the laptop, in front of Beth.

"That's true, what's wrong Becs?" Chloe frowned.

"Calm down everybody, momma's fine. Funny thing, alright? Jungle is amazing, absolutely awesome, completely great, at the same time scary as shit and everything is more deathly than a shark there, even plants kill, and it rained a lot so I'll probably get a cold, and there were thousand insects and mosquitoes feed with me, and etc. But, I come home mostly fine, and then we went not here but to Harvey's house, because his sons, he has two sons and a granddaughter of Beth's age, were there waiting for us and had dinner ready" Beca explained "And I'm so dumb, and I was so exhausted, that I threw myself on a spare bed they had there to get a nap before dinner, and I didn't bother to turn the lights on, and I was also too tired to really see, so I ended up throwing myself on a snake" the family's faces were priceless "But the sneaky one was practically inoffensive, only leaves you like if you had a really horrible hangover, and since Harvey is an expert because he's the grandson of an Aborigine, and also his daughter in law is a doctor, I was very well taken care of and now I feel so much better. I threw up, and that also made me feel so much better, so I'm just tired and a bit dizzy, but okay. Harvey said I would be like new in a couple days." Now everybody's faces reflected more calmness "Oh, and no, I didn't see Tarzan, sorry!"

"You're Beca Mitchell, couldn't come home without a scratch, right?" Chloe smiled while getting some potatoes into her mouth.

"I'm sorry" Beca smiled "So appreciate the super safe home you have, and tell me all about your day so far, and the week, gang! I'll leave jungle stories for when I get back home."

In the morning, Beca woke up to certain dizziness, but felt better than the previous day. Weeks went by, and slowly, Beca grew more and more used to the country and its weird stuff, like Christmas stuff starting to appear at the same time summer was closer. She visited the desert, she visited museums, zoos, natural reserves, beaches, and a thousand of very famous places in Australia. The hard physical work, the amount of stuff she was learning to do with her own hands, like repairing, Aborigine things, cutting jungle plants with her whole hands, learning to have her instincts on edge, contacting with her inner self, and her survival natural skills, and all the parts of her that were asleep, used to having others do the stuff for her, was making her feel whole again. She loved doing stuff herself, even if that exhausted her. She learned to make a refugee, to get water out of trees in the jungle, to survive jungle and desert, she learned about poisons, animals, plants, sea, and so many things that made her feel so useful and, when she stopped to think about it, she realized that last time she cried was actually on her first week there. And never again for now, she just didn't feel that sad. She felt like she was in the most rustic camping about survival, about being the humans they originally were, connecting with her inner self, with her humble side, learning to feel, decontaminating from all the crap of the city and the celebrity life, connecting with her music again… it was entirely regenerating, and she felt like truly rebirthing, decontaminating from years of accumulating crap inside she never knew she was holding, and yeah, she got to cry, but it was relief cry in friends arms, cries of getting crap out to never come out, tensions that were there ever since ten years ago, stress, things that she was holding in. And little by little, she found herself laughing without a reason, smiling around the street, appreciating the little things much more, learning to manage her feelings in a healthy way, and a million things she didn't learn from ten years of therapy. She felt a kind of relief she didn't feel before, like a big weight of years she had grown so used to she couldn't feel it, had been lifted from her arms. And that gave her twice the energy, the good mood, and the desire to do stuff, and also, so much inspiration she was exploding and starting to do things she had never even been interested in, like drawing, something that she was awesome at, or composing, which she had never dared to do with the intensity she did now… she even felt taller, and Chloe laughed one day when she, like a child, all excitedly told her about it.

It was the first days of December, and weirdly enough, Beca had done meditation and yoga in the beach –which they did daily, twice per day- and they had done surf, in December, and Beca was still flipping when then talking with the kids she saw them with their best sweaters on, while she wore sleeveless t-shirts, and that seemed asphyxiating enough.

"Are you happy?" Chloe asked with a dreamy smile. It was Saturday in Norfolk, Sunday in Melbourne. The Mitchell children were sleeping peacefully, and Chloe had brought the laptop to bed with her. It was six in the morning in Melbourne, and ten at night in Norfolk, it was winter in Norfolk, summer in Melbourne, but the two places only had a week left before Christmas. Chloe was lying on her side, contemplating her wife happily, and Beca had put a bunch of pillows against the wall of the head of her bed, and sat on her bed with the sheets over her chest and her back against the pillows. She had woken up with Chloe's call and now she was sleepily but happy. She would probably fall asleep again with Chloe.

"I really am Chloe, and I doubt I ever meant it this much" Beca replied "Seriously, it's like… it's like my glass filled so slowly and so much, I never realized it was that full, even when I thought I had emptied it, I was just getting used to it. And now it's so empty… you know I haven't had a single symptom of anxiety in two weeks? I never felt this relaxed, I don't have knots in my throat, I don't feel that feeling in my chest… And the best thing is that I've learned to manage stuff so I never get that bad anymore again when I get back home."

"I'm really happy for you, sweetie" Chloe grinned.

"Yeah" Beca smiled at her "How are you?"

"Well, unfortunately not as good. I'm good, just you know, Christmas shopping, Christmas planning, the children are exhausting, Noah's not walking, only standing and still without help but the pediatrician says he's fine, he's not talking much either, Beth has a lot of homework, I have a lot of work, and I still hate leaving Noah… I don't know Bec. I never realized so truly how helpful you were until you left." Beca bit her lip "I guess you'll help me feel better when you come. When's that gonna be by the way? Because I organized Christmas Eve dinner at our place with the Beales, the Swansons, Lightwoods, Greshams, Allens, Killians, and Adams-Delevignes. It's a crazy lot of people, but I don't wanna go taking flights with the four kids without you, and my family is going to help, and we haven't seen the Bellas in forever, at least some can come. Will you come?"

"I'll try, baby. I'll do my best, okay?" Beca smiled at her "Hey, when I come back, we're gonna change our way of living, and we're gonna start meditating a liberating stuff, alright? Our energies are distorted. We're gonna be better than we've ever been Chlo." They grinned at each other.

"I'll be happy with the comeback sex" Chloe chuckled "Seriously, you know sex is stress relief, I need it."

"We already have had a couple hot encounters this camera would love to have forever" Beca winked "I'll be there soon, I promise."


	33. Chapter 33

Beca smiled to herself, accommodating for a very long flight on Christmas day. She had told her family she wouldn't be able to be there for Christmas, which wasn't entirely a lie –it was Christmas in Melbourne already, and she had had an amazing lunch to celebrate it- but in Norfolk, it wasn't Christmas day yet. In Norfolk, it was midnight and the 24th of December was about to begin. This time she had gotten a plane that would take her there in twenty one hours, which was great, and she had told her family she wasn't going to make it, so they would be disappointed and she could surprise them big. She had butterflies in her stomach just from all the excitement. It had been a bit more than two months away and she couldn't wait to hold her family between her arms.

She slept during most of the flight, and when she arrived to Norfolk, she couldn't avoid the smile when she felt cold and saw all the snow, at four in the afternoon. Now, she was one day before Christmas and that was magic. She had two bags full of presents, and with all her suitcases, she managed to get a taxi and be home soon. She opened the gate, and then she stood in front of the main door of the house, a grin plastered on her face hearing loads of kids, and barking. She opened the door slowly and she heard yells of "Momma!" which made her grin even more. In seconds, she had her children, and some of her nephews and nieces and other children, plus _Billie_ , attached to her like if glue was holding them together.

"You came!" she could hear.

"Of course I came, I would never miss Christmas!"

Then Chloe rushed to the corridor, and Beca stood breathless as the kids pulled away. She knew Chloe was the most stunningly beautiful woman in the universe, but the woman in front of her had reached levels of perfection far beyond what was scientifically reasonable. Beca grinned opening her arms, and Chloe grinned and ran towards her, the couple crashing together and holding each other so tightly they seemed one same person.

"You lied, sneaky bastard!" Chloe bite her earlobe.

"No, I said I wouldn't be home for Christmas. For me, yesterday was Christmas in Melbourne, and I wasn't here right?" Beca smiled. Chloe pulled apart to press their foreheads together, her arms around Beca's neck, and chuckled, kissing Beca. After a while, they pulled apart for air "You're not mad I had two Christmas?"

"You kidding me? You do came from the future, so tell me, do I forgive you?" Chloe grinned.

"Oh, yeah" Beca smiled "You do forgive me. You love me. And I just discovered I love you today ten times more than I loved you when I married you. I love you today twice as much as I loved you when I left." Chloe blushed, and they started a lingering, long make out session, hugging each other.

Afterward, they walked to the living room.

"Say hi to everyone, I'll get you a sweater, you're freezing" Chloe kissed Beca, and ran upstairs. Beca was truly cold, she was wearing a simple t-shirt and a jacket, and were summer clothes. Her children came to her again, this time Noah too, and Beca hugged him in her arms strongly.

"Momma! Momma!" he yelled excitedly making very sharp noises like a bat. Beca chuckled kissing him and she finally arrived to the living-dining room. Chloe had put together their table with another couple tables they had that were bendable and were usually upstairs kept in closets, and now there was a big table that was getting ready, with six seats in each side. Beca could see the big windows that occupied more than half a half of high, and through them she saw the garden, were the older kids, Lucy and Luke Gresham (Angela and Amelia's children), Gabriella (Amy and Bumper's), Kathy and John (George and Hannah's), Edith and Emma (Sophie and Seth's), and the Swanson twins, were playing snow fighting in their closed garden behind the house. The others were all around the house. Beca just couldn't stop grinning, with Noah against her hip.

She left Noah on the carpet of the living room with the other one year olds, his cousin Sam, Lloyd (Amy and Bumper's son) and Oliver (Cynthia-Rose and Grace's). Then, she went to face the adults, that were so many Beca was thankful all the rooms of her house were kind of very big and spacious. She also greeted her pets affectionately, happy to see her house again. The kitchen had doors that connected with the dining-living room, and those were wide open, and the adults were distributed around. She greeted all of them, and hugged them tightly and talked a bit with each. She saw Wyatt Lightwood and his wife Eva, their son Toby lost playing around, and their daughter, that was now eight months old, Susan, with her parents. Angela and Amelia were also around, their children Luke and Lucy also lost playing. The Swansons, Stacie and her husband, and Cynthia and her wife, and Amy and Bumper. Chloe's family.

Chloe finally came back with a sweater for Beca and, once the brunette had changed her jacket for it, Chloe gripped her wife between her arms tightly again, kissing her.

"I really missed you" Chloe whispered against her lips like excusing herself.

"I wasn't complaining." Beca kissed her again.

"How was Australia girl?" George asked grinning when the children had had dinner and they could now take over the table "Chloe told all these crazy stories about you doing surf, and going to the jungle, and the desert, and fighting giant spiders and snakes, and crocodiles."

"Yeah, there is Tasmania we are the most hardcore, I always said" Fat Amy smiled, and Beca chuckled.

"Actually Amy, it has been great relief to see you weren't exaggerating nor crazy, Australia is freaking crazy, three years old are braver than me. A snake bite me, and a toddler laughed at me" Beca smiled "Yeah, it was crazy, but amazing, seriously, it was so great, and I got to have Christmas lunch today, now Christmas Eve dinner for the second time, and tomorrow it's Christmas again. I could talk about Australia for months, believe me, it's an amazing place. Takes a long time to get used to the spiders as big as that chicken, to frequent snakes that can be literally everywhere, the insects, the mosquitoes that have eaten me, and the other thousand killing beasts."

"The kids loved the exotic stuffed animals though" Chloe commented, talking about presents Beca had sent.

"I'm glad" Beca kissed Chloe again. She just couldn't have enough. She never felt that happy "You know what I just realized yesterday Australia time?"

"You are not afraid of American spiders anymore?" Chloe hinted with a smirk, and Beca chuckled.

"Apart from that… I realized that this is my first Christmas without a father, and that they died right six months ago, so I should be really sad, but instead, I don't think I've ever felt better. Seriously, I think I got rid of inner stuff I carried since LA."

"I'm happy, really happy to hear that" Chloe smiled "Although it worries me that you carried anything since LA. That's like thirteenth years ago."

"I know, right? And you know what? I'm done with therapists, Eddie helped loads, but when the holidays finish, I'm sending him a great basket with luxuries, and I'm saying goodbye for now."

"Don't get too excited shorty" Chloe smiled at her.

"I've been thinking about it for a week, and Harvey gave me the reason" Beca grinned and kissed him.

"So whenever we feel crappy, you recommend risking our necks in Australia?" Aubrey joked.

"Hey, if I, that almost gave up at changing diapers, could do it, you can girl" Beca replied "Although it's kind of scary that all those years, Amy wasn't even exaggerating with Australia."

"Did you visit Tasmania much?" Amy asked curiously with a smirk, and Beca nodded while eating.

"I went there maybe a couple times every week, it had cool stuff" Beca replied.

"I'm still assimilating that you went all crazy adventurous just like that" Stacie smirked "What is gonna be next, Afghanistan, Russia?"

"Whatever comes next, it'll be with the family" Beca smiled sinking her eyes in Chloe's and squeezing her hand over the table "Speaking of which, I was thinking if our children want to see Portland so much, maybe we could go… not now, because I'm still jetlagged, but maybe spring break. I'm okay for that."

"Are you sure?" Chloe frowned.

"Yeah" Beca nodded and smiled rubbing Chloe's frown until it disappeared and Chloe smiled.

There were around twenty two adults there, so small conversations had formed here and there, everybody talked with everybody, and some were content just listening here and there. Noah got up from where he was playing with the other kids his age, and crawled until he reached Beca's chair, using it to support herself and stand up, his arms going up towards Beca, who pushed her chair back smiling at the boy.

"Momma, momma" Noah called, and Beca took him in her arms, sitting him on her lap while he ate. Noah leaned against her chest with a hand gripping her sweater and her left thumb into his mouth.

"Aw, my baby" Beca kissed his head using her right arm to secure his position so the other was free to feed herself.

"He missed you a lot, he put tantrum after tantrum" Chloe said smiling to the boy, stroking his cheek tenderly.

"I'm sorry you had to put up with that" Beca kissed her "You know, you made quite an amazing Christmas tree this year, I think it's the best so far." She added, pointing at the tree that shined close by.

"The kids made the most part, I was too busy" Chloe smiled proudly looking at the tree, and then back at Noah "I think he's a leftie, just like you."

"Well it makes sense, Micah already went too much like his uncle being ambidextrous, this one had to be left-handed" Beca smiled pressing her lips against Noah's forehead passing a hand through his hair. Noah was a bit bigger than she remembered, and his brown hair had grown a bit, he had bangs, like always, and his hair covered most part of his ears and the back of his neck, but they didn't like cutting the kid's hair in winter when it was too cold and hair protected them somehow. Micah had a similar haircut, only his hair was slightly shorter, but he liked bangs too. Beth, like Chloe, wore bangs and long hair to a side, and Kamara usually had short hair and usually up in braids or ponytails "Has this one slept properly? He looks tired."

"I told you he had been crying many nights" Chloe replied "Remember?"

"Yeah, but I thought you put him with you in our bed and he fell asleep again."

"No, he stopped crying but didn't wake up. And because he has learnt momma, I've heard that words many times these past two months than ever in my life probably" Chloe replied.

"Oh… I'm really sorry" Beca kissed Chloe again, and Chloe kissed her back.

"It's okay" Chloe smiled "You're home now. How was the flight, very long?"

"Twenty one hours, this one was shorter. Very boring, but I slept most of the time" Beca shrugged with a tiny smile.

"Momma, look!" Beth had come running, missing her mothers probably "I'm gonna lose this tooth, but mamma said another would grow up" Beth opened her mouth showing Beca a tooth that was moving slightly.

"Wow!" Beca smiled stroking her cheek "Definitive teeth coming already? You're becoming a pretty young woman, kid!"

"Yeah!" Beth grinned. She was already missing a couple teeth that had fallen some months ago and were growing very slowly "Will Mouse Perez come and leave some present under my pillow in exchange for my tooth?"

"Sure, we'll made sure he gets the news" Beca smiled. She really missed those little bastards.

"Why is it that Mouse Perez needs so many teeth momma?"

"Well…" Beca decided to give her the same answer her father gave her years ago "Mouse Perez cleans those teeth and leaves them ready so other people can use them. Like babies like your brother who are growing up, or old people that lost them, or cubs around the world. That way everybody can keep eating pancakes!" Beth and Chloe chuckled.

"I want pancakes" Beth said suddenly.

"Tomorrow" Chloe rubbed her back "Are you having fun with the other kids?"

"Yeah" Beth nodded "But is it okay if I come from time to time? I missed momma."

"Sure thing kiddo" Beca kissed her cheek and she grinned, took a piece of cheese from the table, and ran upstairs again. Noah had already fallen asleep, so Beca was careful not to move and wake him up.

"Surfing gave you a nice tan Mitchell" Jesse smiled at her, and Beca smiled and nodding.

"And nice abs. Although I'm not sure if it was more the surfing or surviving in the jungle, climbing trees, jogging around the beach, sailing…" she shrugged and smiled.

"Gee, how are you gonna go back to your boring job sitting with your toys?" Wyatt joked.

"Are you kidding me? I've got so much inspiration and ideas and music sheets running through my mind right now that I can't wait to start" Beca said enthusiastically "We played piano, and guitar, and even bass and drums, which I'm not awesome at but it was amazing anyway. We spent hours talking about music and ideas, and I would suggest something I was planning, and he helped so much, and now, my mind has so much music going around I feel like Wagner or something."

"How funny it is that I fell in love with a DJ and ended up marrying a little Vivaldi composing stuff and everything" Chloe smiled proudly supporting her head on Beca's shoulder stroking her thighs with a hand.

"I sure am embracing it" Beca smiled "Although I do miss being a DJ a tiny bit, but I can wait until little Noah goes to Elementary at least." Beca leaned to kiss Chloe on the lips, and Chloe sat up and kissed her neck "So, it's _Bulletproof Productions_ still a thing or did it explode in my absence?" she joked looking at Wyatt while stroking Chloe's hair.

"It didn't" Wyatt chuckled "Although I haven't been there much, Angie was the one that took the lead mostly."

"Oh, yeah, well, everything is fine" Angela smirked drinking from her wine "People is happy, Christmas baskets went early this year, and we passed the technical evaluations with highest marks again, I'd say is a success. Plus, that one Asian artist who wanted you so much let another employee do the job, and I heard it and it's pretty good."

"Like I would ever hire people that weren't good enough" Beca chuckled "Then it's great, thanks!"

"We missed our hobbit alpha" Charles joked sitting on the other side of Beca, he rubbed her hair. A while later, Micah came and sat on Chloe's lap to be close to Beca.

"Momma, mamma showed us a documentary about Australia, and it said that there were jungles, and rainforests, and desert, and a lot of sea" Micah commented.

"Indeed" Beca smiled at her other boy.

"Isn't it a great environment for dinosaurs? Did you see any little somewhere? Like the one in the Ness lake?"

"I guess they would be happy there, but I saw any honey" Beca smirked.

Later that night, some of the kids already had passed out around the house, and Beca sat on the sofa with the remaining children playing the guitar and singing. They had sung Christmas carols, and now they were just singing whatever would come up to their heads.

"Mom, play piano for us?" Kai suggested pointing to the keyboard that was in the music room.

"Sure, Beth, help your sister bring it to me please?" Beca smiled leaving the guitar aside. The girls brought the keyboard with its support. Beca passed her fingers through the keys like a soft stroke, and then she played _River flows in you_ , which the kids always loved.

"That's the _Twilight_ song" Jesse commented walking by, and Beca nodded with a tiny smile.

"Mom, sing that song about what love is" Beth demanded, and Beca then sang _The Rose_ by Bette Midler. Chloe enjoyed contemplating her from her seat in the table and listening to her singing. Most of the conversations had died to listen, and truth is, Beca hadn't sung in months for them, so it was great. The Bellas would sometimes join for some verses, or not, but they liked hearing.

After that one, Micah ran for his harmonica and then when he came downstairs again, he surprisingly started playing _Piano man_ by Billy Joel. Beca smirked and started accompanying with the piano, and Micah sang, making the adults giggle because he was too cute. From time to time, his mothers or some men or anybody really would join, but they let Micah take the lead.

"Noah, come son, it's time to move those legs of yours" Beca said a while later, taking Noah, who had already enjoyed a nap, off the ground in the living room and kissing his cheek soundly.

She put him again on the floor, and kept him standing on his feet, grabbing his hands to help him and be able to take him up if he started to fall.

"You can do this Noah, I'm here with you." Beca grinned encouragingly at the baby, and Chloe smiled coming close and sitting next to them. Beca started walking backwards, causing the boy to start stumbling, trying to walk with her. He was about to fall twice, but Beca caught him before he hit the ground, and little by little, he was starting to feel more confident. George, Chloe's brother, took the chance to record what was going on.

After walking with him for a bit, slowly and with numb steps, Beca decided Noah was ready to try on his own, and she knelt and starting putting his hands off Noah's, and the boy looked sadly at her.

"Momma…"

"It's okay Noah" Beca kissed his cheek "I won't let you fall, I promise. Come, come to me" Beca said kneeling a bit far away from him and smiling encouragingly. Noah, despite standing on his own for the first time, didn't seem so sure about it, and looked at Chloe for help.

"Baby, look at yourself standing there all by yourself! We're so proud of you!" Chloe tried to inspire confidence on the boy "Come on Noah, we won't let you hurt yourself, just try and it'll be good enough for us."

"Yeah Noah, trying it's what matters. If walking doesn't happen today, then we can try again tomorrow" Beca smiled happily at the boy. She was tired, but she had hoped that when she came back Noah would speak and walk fluently, and was happy that wasn't the case and she could witness those things.

Noah seemed to feel braver with that, and started trying to walk towards Beca, whose arms extended towards him. He walked slowly, but she was walking. Chloe's eyes filled with tears of emotion and she brought her hands to her mouth, smiling proudly. After eighteen months, their littlest bundle of joy was growing up and doing things like his elders. Soon he would be walking around so much, it would be a danger to everybody, if he was like Micah, who despite behind very calm and quiet, had that period of being a hurricane. Chloe was still surprised Beca's old laptop survived that period. Noah wasn't walking like an expert, but he was doing a pretty nice job, and Beca felt her chest bursting with pride. Noah grinned when he saw he was almost there, and gave a last step forward before falling into Beca's, chest. The brunette chuckled and hugged him tightly to her chest.

That night, snow fights also happened, and after that, deserts, and a session of hide and seek with the children, Beca lied on the sofa _"for a second"_ , and ended up passing out there. Chloe smiled sitting by the sofa and stroking her cheek, kissing her. Her girl was home.

That night, Beca and Chloe snuggled together in the bed, happy to feel the other close. They mad made love, and now, they were just snuggled waiting for Morfeo to take them, hopefully to the same dream.

"Baby" Beca whispered in the dark.

"Yeah?" Chloe smiled. They were nude and Beca was on top of Chloe, who was hugging her while Beca had her nose buried in the crook of her neck. Chloe was dragging her fingers softly up and down Beca's back, stroking it lovingly.

"I'm the happiest I've ever been… but I'm gonna make sure you are too. Alright?"

"Alright" Chloe smiled pressing her lips against her temple "I'm okay Bec. As long as you're with me, I know it'll be alright."

In that moment, they just knew. They had went through many battles, and in life, many other battles were probably about to come, but it would be fine, because they would stick together forever, and they would do the impossible to bring each other home again. They could smell future storms… but they laughed at the waves of the pissed off ocean. They were ready. Ready to live. And if anything, storms had made them stronger, and they knew they had a big net to keep them safe and sane, and that they were bulletproof, they were unstoppable, and now, they were titanium.


	34. Chapter 34

November 2nd, 2095, looked like an amazing day, even if a cold one, in Portland, Maine. With 105 years old, Chloe Mitchell felt great. Of course she got tired easily, she had to keep a good eye on her blood pressure, she couldn't see properly to read, she forgot more things that she'll like, her voice wasn't as strong and she couldn't go anywhere without her cane, but she had been 77 years married to the love of her life, who even today could make her laugh with enthusiasm, and those years of happy marriage, with ups and downs but happy really, had made her grow old quite slowly. She could still walk straight, only used her cane because her feet hurt sometimes, and Beca often joked saying that they laughed so much every day during so many years, they would never die. Happiness and love was what kept them away from many illnesses, and after living in Portland for now twenty five years, she had gotten used to the cold. They could have moved to Tampa, warmer place, when they choose to move somewhere else for the final years of their lives, but Beca wanted to be buried in Portland, so did Chloe, and they both loved the place, and Beca still had her mother's house, so why not? Yes, Chloe Mitchell was a happy, whole woman, who fell more in love and felt more loved every day with her wife. However, it wasn't the same with her wife, Rebeca.

Beca was 102 years old. She, like Chloe and also being younger, had become older pretty well, and had never been able to really complain much about anything, except the fact that her tattoos didn't look the same. She still thought Chloe was the sexiest woman alive, and Chloe would kill whoever dared to say that woman wasn't Beca. Beca barely become ill, and she had only lost part of her hearing with the ages, which wasn't pretty good for her, who loved music, but as long as she could hear it, she didn't care if the sound seemed to be more far away. That's why, when a bit more than a year ago, when Beca started to forget big stuff, it was kind of surprising, but they didn't give it second thoughts. Beca was old, after all. The problem with Beca was that she was very stubborn and proud, so she took months to admit that the point where she couldn't exactly recall names or relationships with people that were close to her, had arrived a good time ago. Not long after, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer, and that was even harder to digest, the idea of the Universe, her life and her loved ones, fading away from her life, before she could.

But her family was very supportive and came up with hundreds of ideas to make her life easier, so for the last year and a half, she barely seemed to have Alzheimer. Chloe swore she would never leave her side, and Beca felt really loved and taken care of. She always told Chloe, she felt safe and wasn't afraid, because she had her beautiful ginger. It didn't matter that Chloe's hair was now a blazing white.

However, in the last couple months or so, Beca started not recognizing them. She never freaked out about that much, because she swore her brain may not know them, but her heart did and she knew she was safe. She had already cried her eyes out because of Alzheimer, and now she was being strong, facing what she knew would come soon with all the strength a life filled with many downs had given her. And Chloe was being equally strong for her.

"You know" Beca had said the night before, as she and Chloe lied together in bed "I wish I knew who you are, because my heart freaking skips beats when I see those amazing eyes you have, and I don't feel butterflies in my stomach, but freaking elephants dancing." Chloe had then laughed strongly and Beca smiled seeing her laugh. She was really tired, the last months had been making her feel more tired every day, and some months ago she had started having some difficulties breathing "I love you so much Chloe. I don't know anything about me or my life, or them, or you, but I know I love you so hard it's unbelievable." Chloe smiled sadly at her and caressed her cheek softly. Beca closed her eyes and breathed deeply "My body remembers you… I just got chills."

"I love you so much it's unbelievable too, Bec. And I swear, I will remind you anything all you want" Chloe had said then. Sometimes, when she stared at Beca's eyes, she didn't saw confusion anymore, but deep love and a flinch of her old self, like for seconds sometimes, Beca recovered her mind "Can I kiss you?"

"Never ask me for permission for that Chlo. My body is aching for you" Beca giggled, and Chloe didn't waste a second before kissing her deeply, and Beca could swear her lips remembered Chloe's lips "I feel so loved and protected with you" Beca said kissing her again. They lied snuggled together, their foreheads pressed together, their lips sometimes reaching towards the others.

"I will always take care of you Beca. You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not. I know there's people waiting for me in the other side… and I know I lived a long, happy, full life. I feel so strong inside, even if my body is weak, Chlo. You showed me our amazing family, and they're all here for me. I may not know them, but I sure love them. I feel it inside. I feel things inside that guide me when my brain forgets and fails, that's how I know I'm safe, and I can trust you all. That nobody could love me more than you guys."

"I'm so happy to hear that baby…" Chloe kissed her again, blinking the tears away "At least you won't have to let me go."

"I'm sorry you have to live this."

"Don't be. I'm glad it is like this. You deserve to go with me by your side."

"I'll be by your side. Always" Beca said then "When your time comes, I'll be there. When my time comes, I will go to be with you forever, taking care of you."

Chloe bit her lip, and finally let a sob go. Beca hugged her closer and kissed her tears away.

"I'm sorry, I should be the one staying strong for you. It's just, I always thought the day when we'll be talking about one of us having to die was still too far away to worry. And now it's here. You're dying." Beca nodded, and kissed her. Then, smiled.

"Hey! It's okay. Death is the next great adventure. And I'm telling you, death doesn't scare me. It gives me a chance to be always with all of you and take care of you from beyond… and it gives me the opportunity to go with my family, the rest of it, and part of yours, and Aubrey, right?" Every six or seven hours, Beca's memory would be completely empty, but now, they had been talking for a while, even if it was past midnight, and Chloe talked to her about college, or Aubrey, that left a couple years before. Jesse was still alive, and when their daughter Beth married Daniel Swanson, their families got together. All of Beca and Chloe's family, from Beth to their youngest grandchildren, were there, or in hotels very close by "I lived an awesome life. I'm going with more than a hundred years… and I may not remember any of it, but since I sure enjoyed every second, I know it's okay. I'm ready."

"You always said death was the next great adventure." Chloe smiled seeing her old Beca there. Beca smiled.

"Chlo, do you feel me like me? or do you feel like talking with a stranger?" Chloe giggled and Beca grinned.

"I feel like if you were drunk. But to me, you're still the same eighteen year old I fell deeply, madly in love with, eighty four years ago." They lied together, smiling at each other, caressing each other, stroking each other, keeping the other close.

"I wish we could've been infinite. It does feel a little like my favorite game is about to break and I'll never be able to play it anymore."

"We are infinite. Eternal. Don't you see? Not even Alzheimer could take you away, Yes, we need to say goodbye to this game but… that's not the end. You go. I'll join you one day, and then… then we'll live the next adventure." Beca grinned, and nodded.

"You're right" Beca breathed deeply, flinching a bit when it hurt her a bit, and Chloe kissed her "You know the only thing that seems really scary?"

"What?"

"Pain" Pain would always be something that scared Beca a lot, even in her youth "I wonder how much it's going to hurt. If I'll feel every bit of it, or if I'll be able to just drift to sleep and not know a thing. I say I deserve to go peacefully, right? You told me I'm the last one of my family. I deserve it, right?"

"You do" Chloe nodded "I'm afraid of that too. You know what we'll do? When it hurts, just come closer. I'll hold you between my arms, and I'll kiss you, and I'll sing you to sleep."

"Okay" Beca nodded and kissed her, snuggling later against her chest like a baby. Chloe could feel how hard it was for Beca's chest to rise, but it still did "But I won't be able to hold you when you go. I mean, of course I will be holding you, but you won't be able to feel me like this."

"I'll feel you somehow. And if it hurts too much, I'll tell them to sedate me so I can just sleep and wake up in your arms." Chloe whispered stroking her hair. Tears went freely through both of their faces now.

"I love you Chlo. Always."

"I love you Bec. Forever."

Chloe and Beca had four children. Elizabeth, the eldest, was now 74 years old. She had married Daniel Swanson, and together, they had Alan and Rebeca. Alan was now forty two years old, and was married with Michael. They had Sebastian (14 Y.O.), Lilly (13) and Sarah (11). Rebeca, on the other side, was forty years old, and she, with her husband Arthur Killian –one of Stacie's descendents- were the parents of Addison (4), Robert (3) and Anna (2). Chloe's and Beca's second children was Micah. He had turned already seventy two years old, and he had married Emily's firstborn, Hailee Applebaum. They were the parents of Emily, Joseph and Nicholas. Emily was forty five, and her husband was Italian, Dante Agnelli. There were four Agnelli children, Sophie (11), Matteo (would turn 10 before the end of the year), Peter (8) and Maria (5). Joseph married a woman named Mackenzie, and they had Jack (7) and little Chloe (5) Mitchell. Then there was Nicholas, who married a woman named Lea and with her, he parented Parker (14), Chad (12), Elizabeth (11) and Finley (8) Mitchell. Chloe and Beca had another daughter, their third child, Kamara, who now wasn't their tiny toddler anymore, but a 71 years old woman. Kamara had married Christopher Allen, one of Fat Amy's children. Kamara and Chris had their own four children. The first one was another Amy, who had 37 years old. Amy married Cody Carter, and together, they had another Micah (3), Sheila (2) and Amy was pregnant with a boy they would name Liam, who would arrive the world in 2096. That was a reminder for Chloe that there would be good stuff even after Beca left. [A/N. It would kill me not to say Liam will have a little sister, Patricia, in 2097.] Kamara's second child was Alex, a thirty six years old man married to Hope. They had Derek (12), Kamara junior (11) and Meredith (10). Then, Kamara and Chris' third child was Gael, a man aged thirty five who married a woman named Edith. Not the same Edith that was Chloe and Beca's niece. They didn't have children yet. [A/N. In 2097 they would have Aubrey, followed by Christine in 2098, Adam in 2100 and Robert in 2102.] Kamara's last child was a woman named Adelbowae, who had thirty three years old. Adelbowae, or Debbie as they called her, married Ron Bowe, and they had Marcus (7) and Julia (5). Finally, Beca and Chloe had one last child, a 68 year old man named Noah, who now knew how to walk pretty well and was the husband of Susan Lightwood. Together, they had Jane, Charles, George and James. Jane was 38 and married Albert Bolton, with whom she had Eleanor (12), Hugo (11), Diego (9), Rose (8) and Catherine (5). Charles was thirty seven and was married to Diana. They had Lucas (6), Anthony (5) and Emma (3) Mitchell. George was thirty five and was the husband of Mathilda. They had no children yet [A/N. But in 2097 they would have Sarah, followed by Lloyd in 2098.]. And finally, Noah was also the father of James, who was thirty four and married to Teresa. They had Charlotte (10), Louis (8) and Kevin (5) Mitchell. That was their family, and even if everybody had their own lives and lived around the world, they always managed to spend two weeks altogether every summer, have a group chat, communicate with each other really often, and now, they were all in Portland for grandma Beca.

Chloe had sung Beca that night. She woke up, and smiled feeling Beca hugging her tightly. Her smile dropped when she realized Beca couldn't breathe properly, and she sat up. It was five in the morning of November 2nd, and she screamed for help as she sat Beca a bit straighter, like rocking her between her arms and holding her against her chair, stroking her hair. Beca was really trying to breathe and looked frantically for Chloe's eyes. Chloe sank her eyes into Beca's, and realized Beca was lucid.

"Chlo…" Beca breathed.

"I love you Bec. Please hold on, please, keep trying honey, I'm here." Beca's left hand gripped the same necklace she gave Chloe so many years ago, before having children, and that Chloe had never taken off, and Chloe took her hand and kissed her. She could see by Beca's expression and weird noises she was in pain, and she hugged closer to her chest.

They heard a lot of noise and then people stormed into the bedroom. They were their children, followed by some of their grandchildren and children in law.

"She can't breathe. She's in pain" Chloe said with tears in her eyes. Micah stared at them, and nodded. He had become and archeologist, but now he looked frantically for Beca's mask of oxygen, and sitting next to them, helped her mother breathe.

"It's okay mom, we're here. We won't leave you alone" Micah's voice wasn't that sharp voice of a kid anymore, but the voice of a man. He and Noah were very alike and were very much like Beca, but in men. Micah was tall, skinny, had brown hair, beard, and the same stormy eyes Beca had. Noah was tall and like a closet, same brown hair, he had goatee, and a lighter color of blue eyes. He stood in front of them, along with two women. Kamara had become a true woman, black, with dark eyes, and the warmest heart on earth. Beth was just like Chloe. Not very tall, skinny, with great proportions, stunning blue eyes, the same Chloe had, and her same red hair. They were all wonderful, beautiful children.

Chloe then didn't feel an old women that was more than a century old and had already buried her best friend, about to bury her other best friend, had buried a brother, a sister in law, a sister, and her parents. She felt like a woman in her twenties, with her younger girlfriend slipping away, dying, in her arms. Beca stared at her children for a second, remembering them perfectly, and breathing somehow less painfully, although she was still breathing bad, and a tear her eyes as they sank into Chloe's also watery eyes. Chloe couldn't hear her, but read her lips. She asked for Chloe to sink. So Chloe sang _Titanium_. In the chorus, she was accompanied by their children, and when she was about to sing the last _I am titanium_ of the first chorus, Beca stopped her, leaving the children to continue, by putting her mask off her face.

"Kiss me" Beca whispered weakly. Both women had tears running through their cheeks as Chloe hugged Beca closer, and leaned, kissing her lovingly.

They maintained a lingering kiss for a while, kissing each other deeply, with their eyes half opened, until Chloe saw the spark in Beca's eyes vanish, at the same time she felt like a breath against her mouth and then Beca's lips were flat, and the hand Beca had against her cheek fell against Beca's belly. Chloe broke the kiss, keeping her eyes sank in Beca's, their foreheads pressed together, and hugged her tightly against her chest, rocking her softly like if she was a baby, and sobbing. Their children stopped singing and contemplated them while crying silenty.

"Beca… my girl… my love…" Chloe sobbed kissing her face. When she calmed down a bit, silent tears still getting her cheeks wet, she carried a hand to Beca's face, stroking it softly, and then with the tips of her index finger and middle finger, she pressed them softly against Beca's eyelids, and closed her eyes.

Two days later, they buried Rebeca Mitchell right beside her mother. It was a cold morning, and Chloe stood in front of her brand new grave, Jesse by her side hugging her close with one arm. She had ran out of tears, she was too exhausted, although she would get to live one hundred and ten years, but she then didn't know that.

"Let's go home." Chloe whispered.

Chloe couldn't, however, be home, and she ended up going alone to the Presumscot River, next to the fall in front of which she got married many years ago. She sat in the place where she had given the _I do_ to her one and only, and sighed putting her hands on the pockets of that same coat she always used when going out. Then, she felt something through the fabric of the inside of the pocket, like if there was something inside of the pockets that were in the inside of the coat. She finally got an envelope out. It read _To Chloe_ with Beca's handwriting. The first tears came out again as she got a photograph out. It was a photograph of Beca, Chloe, and their six children, during Noah's first Christmas, cuddled together in the couch, smiling. Then, she got a long letter out and started reading, almost hearing Beca whispering against her ears. The date of the letter was of the early hours of the day Beca days, hours before Chloe woke up to see Beca dying.

My dearest Chloe:

If you're reading this, that means I'm dead. It's okay, you don't have to feel sorry for me sweetie. I had a long, splendid, beautiful, wonderful life, I enjoyed every second of it, and now I go back to my family's embrace, to take care of the own family you and I made, to take care of you, and made sure you are all okay. Nothing can hurt me now. And tonight, as I see you sleep next to me for what I feel will be the last time, I remember my whole life, I'm completely lucid, and I feel so much love for you and for what we've done together baby. Smile, because I just realized that now I can say without being scared of it not being true, that in all the days of my life I will never love somebody like I love you. Now it's an statement; you're my one and only. You're my soul mate. You're the love of my life.

It's okay to feel sad, but think that even if you can't see or hear me, remember what you told me once when we were in the cemetery together, the same one I'm resting in now. Remember how we talked about how we would always be together, beyond death, because the one that left first would always be holding the other, even if the other couldn't feel it. I don't know how or where I am now, as you read this, but I'm calm and happy because I know I'm there with you, hugging you, being your angel of guard, and whispering good night and how much I love you next to your ear every day.

Chloe, I know it sucks, and that you may feel lonely, and terrible, but don't sink in it. My death exists because my life did, and we should be thankful for that. I left in your arms, I know that, and that's all I wanted. Think about the amazing life we had together, that's why I put that photo there. See us? See our family? Now our family is huge, which is more than what even in my best dreams I could have hoped. A family filled with love, a caring family, humble, nice, great, wonderful family. I would've given so much to be there with you right now in present body, and be able to keep laughing with our family, but all I can do now is take care of you all the best way I can from here. Warmness, I guess, has died for me too. Enjoy that. Enjoy your life, Chloe, no matter if it ends tomorrow or in another hundred years, enjoy every second of it for the two of us, like we always did. Smile. I can't make you laugh anymore but hell, laugh anyway. Be happy for what we had, it was amazing, and it was something most people can only dream of. You were my best partner in this game, and I'll see you again someday. I promise.

Thank you, Chloe Beale. Not only for bursting into my shower when I was eighteen… but for everything else. I hope our tons of pictures, letters, music and memories help you keep me close to your heart when you feel lonely. Never feel sorry for me, and never feel like your luck wasn't good. We have been the luckiest. Everything I have, and all I am, I owe it to you, and now I can only assure you that you will never be alone. Maybe Jesse will die before you –although I think he'll be the last one of the four of us- and if that happens, don't feel alone when your time comes. We will all be there with you. When you can't sleep, wrap those blankets tighter around you, close those beautiful eyes, and think of our great times together. You may not hear me, but I will be singing to you. You are brave. You are strong. It's not for being a Mitchell…, but for being a lion. My all time favorite dork, I know if anybody can do this is you. You've always inspired me Chloe. Remember, never stop singing, laughing and believing.

I love you. Always yours.

Rebeca Mitchell.

One that lived, laughed her ass of, cried and died, in your warm embrace. I promise you, everything is going to be okay.

She stood up, sniffled soundly, and held the letter close against her chest, closing her eyes, and smiling at the sky. She was alive. And everything was going to be okay.

When she arrived back home, her family was entirely gathered around the living room, and they warmly made her join them. They were watching silly old videos of the Bellas, some of them still alive and there, like their families, when they were in college. Silly videos made in the house, and videos of rehearsals and many other things. Weddings. Children. And with the first silly joke of one Beca Mitchell, they laughed.


End file.
